The End, Or Not?
by Shiver-n-Shake
Summary: The Deathly Hallows told from Remus and Tonks's point of view. As a couple... Married and in love. However, I don't fancy the ending that J.K. wrote, do you? I think that it needs a bit of a twist! Lupin/Tonks Rated M for language and maybe adult content?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a fic revolving around Remus and Tonks's lives in the Deathly Hallows and told a bit more from Tonks's perspective then from Remus's (I never do stories fully from the first person, though. I absolutely detest those). This uses a bit of the dialogue from the book but I'm altering it to fit the scenes I've edited a bit. Some of the stuff later on will probably be different because I hate how the Deathly Hallows ends. I'm going to go off the path that leads to the crappy epilogue and create one of my own. Rated T because I don't feel like making it M but there's a lot inappropriate language, especially from Tonks. Be warned.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, I did not write Harry Potter, and I don't own any of these characters or settings. That all belongs to the good J.K. Rowling.**

The night of Harry's carefully planned escape had finally arrived and tensions were high among the members of the Order of the Phoenix. This was their first mission without their wise leader and friend, Albus Dumbledore, and no one was sure if they would succeed. Yet each person pushed past this fear and arrived in small groups at the Burrow to review their piece in the puzzle one last time. Among the first to arrive were Nymphadora Tonks, a plucky young auror with bright pink hair, and her husband, and notorious werewolf, Remus Lupin.

"I want you to be careful tonight." Remus murmured as he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on top of her head. His wife glanced up to look into his eyes, her face filled with confusion. This was just another assignment, another task to defeat the Dark Lord, and she had never seen him this worried. "Don't try to be the hero. I don't want to lose you."

"Same goes for you, Remus." She made an effort to sound as serious as possible and he smiled. Her eyes narrowed and the grin slid from his face. "I'm not kidding. I mean it."

"I promise I'll come back to you." He stepped away from her and cupped her cheeks in his hands. "I love you."

She could feel his scarred fingers tracing light patterns over the side of her face in a comforting gesture and sighed angrily. This wasn't how she'd pictured married life when she was young. Then again, she'd never thought that she would become an auror and a member of the most successful defence group against the tyranny of the Dark Lord and there she was. Life was certainly unpredictable.

"I love you too."

His lips were on hers in an instant, claiming them in a passionate kiss. She curled her fingers in his salt-and-pepper locks and he moved his hands to her waist, meaning to pull her closer, but made her trip over her own feet. Thankfully he caught her before she hit the ground and after a silent moment, he burst out laughing.

"There I go again, spoiling the mood." Tonks sighed as he tugged her to her feet and smiled.

Suddenly, she heard the crunch of footsteps behind her and spun around. Within a second her wand was out of its holster that rested at her hip and from the corner of her eye, she saw Remus's own weapon pointing toward the intruder.

"This is all very touching, but we have an important meeting in a bit."

None other than Mad-Eye Moody, famous auror and possibly the greatest dark wizard catcher of all time, was limping up the dirt path toward the front door. Tonks rolled her eyes and shoved her wand back into the holster. Remus kept his own wand in hand, still wary of the true identity of the wizard before them.

"The meeting's in a quarter of an hour!" Tonks complained as she grinned at her old teacher, who rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Besides, you're the third person to arrive here not including us. We couldn't possibly start without everyone present, could we?"

"Get. Inside. The house." Moody snarled. "We need to smooth some rough patches out in the plan and if the others aren't here in time to hear them, so be it. Also, you should be more attentive when determining the identity of a wizard. How could you have truly known that it was me-"

"C'mon Remus," She mumbled as she grabbed his hand and led the way toward the door. Her mentor stared at the pair, open-mouthed and surprised at being interrupted. "Let's-"

"You got married." Moody stated bluntly, apparently retaliating with a statement of his own. Tonks whirled around to face him, shocked at his observation. "Congratulations."

"Thank you, Alastor." Remus replied sincerely as a furious blush crept up his neck.

"Ah, no reason to wait out here anymore. Here come the rest of them." Moody gestured toward the group of people walking in from the edge of the yard and turned to lead the way into the Burrow.

When she and Remus followed suit, she couldn't help but smile. The large, teetering house was the same as when she had last seen it-cosy, comforting, and full of family and warmth. This was how she pictured her house in the future, a place for her, her husband, and maybe even a kid or two to feel at home.

"Wotcher, Ginny!"

"Tonks!" The youngest Weasley had been sitting on the sofa in the sitting room and stood up to greet them. "Professor! How are you?"

Tonks grinned happily and pecked her husband on the cheek before he headed out to the kitchen to join the rest of the rapidly-arriving group. Ginny raised her eyebrows and Tonks's grin grew wider.

"You haven't seen the best part yet." The older woman's hand was in the air and the golden band wrapped around her ring finger was clearly visible in the scarce light of the room. Ginny's squeal of happiness was enough to make Tonks laugh out loud.

"You got married? That's bloody brilliant, congratulations!" Ginny pulled her friend in for a hug and bounced up and down in glee. Tonks felt as if the air was being squeezed from her lungs from the strength of the hug but didn't have the heart to tell the younger witch.

"Ginerva, language!" Molly stuck her head from the kitchen into the room and smiled at Tonks. "We're about to start the meeting now, dear."

"See you later." Tonks said with a wink toward the younger girl, who laughed. When she entered the kitchen, she noticed that she was the last person to arrive and her cheeks reddened considerably. Remus smiled at her from the kitchen table and patted the seat next to him, so she made her way over and plopped down on the wooden bench.

"Now that _everyone _is present," Moody started with a glare toward Tonks, who rolled her eyes and inched closer to her husband. Remus smiled and took her hand in his own."We can review the plan. This time however, there will be specifics for each person to follow other than the location of your safe house. Instead of one Harry Potter roaming the skies tonight, there will be seven. Fleur with Bill, Ron with Nymphadora, Hermione with Kingsley, Fred with Arthur, George with Remus, Mundungus with me, and the real Harry with Hagrid. The first name mentioned in each pair will take the polyjuice potion and become a copy of Harry Potter. Any questions?"

"How are you sure Harry will agree to this plan?" Remus piped up from Tonks's side, his eyebrows raised. "He's very noble and protective of the ones he loves. There's no way in hell he'd put us in danger on purpose, even if we agreed to do it ourselves."

"The task of coercing him into cooperating will fall upon Miss Granger and the youngest Mister Weasley." Moody looked at each person in turn and gave them a small smile-more like a grimace from everyone else's point of view. Ron and Hermione glanced warily at each other before turning their attention back to the meeting.

"Will we be apparating?" Hermione whispered from Tonks's left. Tonks remembered that the younger witch had been unable to attend the last meeting and shook her head before speaking quietly.

"We'll be using brooms, thestrals, and Sirius's bike. Harry's still got that bloody trace on him so we can't apparate or floo. If we did, he'd be discovered faster than you could say Volde-"

"Harry's safe house will be at Andromeda and Ted Tonks's place." Moody continued, speaking over his former apprentice's explanation. "And you have all been informed of your respective houses from Kingsley, I trust. It's getting late and Harry's aunt and uncle should be out of the house with Dedalus and Hestia by now. Let's go."

The group left the house quickly and silently before stepping outside the safety of the wards set up around the Burrow to apparate. The wind had picked up and the gusts had even Tonks's short pink hair whipping painfully into the side of her face. She saw Remus grimace while she assessed the conditions for flying and hoped that it wouldn't be as gusty at their destination.

"We will be apparating to the edge of Little Whinging Surrey and flying to Harry from there." Moody called over the howl of the wind. "Remember-no hesitation, stun first and ask questions later, we mustn't be discovered and-"

"Constant vigilance." At least half of the group piped up. Tonks smiled at Remus who had a serious look on his face, the one he always got when he was focused on a task at hand, but an amused twinkle in his eyes.

"Apparate on my count. One, two…Three!"

Tonks spun around on the spot and after a moment of feeling her body compress and contort into hundreds of nameless shapes, she was standing at the edge of an old and decrepit playpark. After only one step toward the rest of the group, she felt her foot catch on something and found herself falling to the ground. Remus was at her side in an instant and she grabbed his arm in support. Her cheeks reddened as she became steadier on her feet and looked down at the offending object that had tripped her.

A cracked and weather-worn garden gnome.

"Come on." Remus pulled a toothpick sized broomstick out of his pocket and enlarged it to its normal size. She did the same. "Almost all of the others have already taken off."

"Bugger that stupid gnome." She gritted her teeth and watched him eye the darkening sky before speaking once more.

"Language, dear."

She laughed darkly at her husband's light-hearted comment and mounted her broom beside him. Then, at the same time, they kicked off. She felt overjoyed at being back in the air again, to have the wind flowing through her spiky pink hair and the mist from the clouds form solid droplets of water on her face. The memories of her seasons as a chaser for the Hufflepuff quidditch team during her time at Hogwarts flowed back to her and even though they were mostly of Charlie Weasley teasing her about her pink hair clashing horribly with the yellow of their robes, she grinned happily.

Suddenly, Harry's doorstep was closer than she'd originally thought-about fifty feet straight below her. Thankfully, flying was one thing that she could always count on being good at without killing herself and she made the dive with no problem. Remus had never seen her fly before and her grin disappeared when she saw his face. He had paled the instant she had turned to go into the dive and from the way his face was tinged with purple, he had held his breath until she reached the ground beside him.

"You never told me you were that good at flying." He tried to smile and she laughed. Suddenly, his tone turned serious. "Don't scare me like that."

"I'll try not to." She tried to keep her mood happy but found it impossible while her husband was staring at her with an extremely worried expression on his face. "Don't worry, I won't."

When the pair entered the house, Harry was already occupied with the task of greeting everyone so Tonks made a beeline for the only thing that resembled a chair left in the kitchen, which happened to be a washing machine. She then patted the spot next to her when she had perched on top of it and raised an eyebrow at Remus, who snorted and leaned against the wall beside her. After a moment of talking to the other Order members, Harry saw them and walked over.

"Wotcher Harry! Guess what?" She picked her left hand up out of her lap and wiggled it to make the ring sparkle. The corners of Remus's lips turned up in a small smile when he saw his former student's surprised reaction.

"You got married?" He yelped, looking from Tonks and Remus's faces with a disbelieving expression present upon his own.

"I'm sorry you couldn't be there, Harry, it was very quiet." Remus explained.

"No problem! That's brilliant, congrat-"

"All right, all right, we'll have time for a cosy catch-up later!" Moody roared, finally deciding to interject into the conversation. The mood in the room instantly transformed from joyous to somber. Tonks's smile slid from her face and she settled into a more comfortable position on top of the machine, waiting for her former mentor to start his long winded speech.

After a brief description of the plan and a few protests from Harry, neither of which Tonks paid much attention to as she prepared mentally for the assignment ahead, the partners were re-announced and she beamed at Ron, who had a slightly disappointed look on his face.

Moody passed around his hip flask and in the blink of an eye, half the room had transformed into the saviour of the wizarding world.

"Be careful." It was time to go and Remus was standing right in front of her, fear and worry present in his eyes. "I can't help thinking that something is about to go horribly wrong. Please stay safe and come back to me."

He gave her a short yet passion-filled kiss on the lips as the rest of the Order filed out the door and she beamed up at him.

"You worry too much, love. It'll be just fine. See you at the Burrow."

After a moment of calling his name and walking through the group of Harrys and other Order members, she had found Ron and they had both mounted their brooms.

"Good luck." She heard him mumble. Then, he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and brushed a few strands of jet black hair from in front of his eyes before concentrating fully on the task at hand.

"You too. And remember if we're separated, you go to-"

"On my mark." Moody yelled over the commotion. "Three, two, one…Go!"

Tonks kicked off immediately with Ron right beside her and they headed east as fast as their brooms would carry them. Just as they soared above the clouds, she realized that they were being tailed by hooded figures on brooms. Death Eaters, to be precise.

"Fuck. Ron, get over here and watch your back! STUPEFY!" She yelled the spell and pointed her wand over her shoulder. It narrowly missed one of the figures, but caused the person's hood to fall from their face. Tonks gasped and Ron pulled closer to her side. " Stay sharp, Ron! Don't let them hit you!"

"Is that-?"

"Is ickle Nymphadora finally going to kill Auntie Bella?" None other than Bellatrix Lestrange shrieked as she fired countless killing curses at the pair of them. After what had to be her fifth sloth grip roll that she used to avoid the curses, Tonks began to feel slightly ill. "Are you going to avenge your filthy, mangy dog of a husband? I'm sure I shot him off his broom back there-"

"You fucking bitch!" Tonks didn't care if Ron was there to hear her as she fired curse after curse back at the woman. Suddenly, a jet of red light flew at her from the side and she turned to see Rookwood advancing toward her. The shield charm she cast was a moment too late and she slumped over her broom, unconscious.

"TONKS!" Ron caught her just as she began to plummet toward the ground and pulled her in front of him and onto his broom. Her own dropped down into the forest and disappeared into the darkness cast by the innumerous amount of trees. Rookwood fired another round of curses his way, but Ron blocked them all and threw a stunning spell that sent the Death Eater straight off his broom.

Just as Ron was about to cast the countercurse, flashes of green light began raining down upon them and he had to swerve frantically in a zigzag motion to avoid them. After a moment of confusion, where he had managed to confound Rodolphus Lestrange and send Bellatrix after him, he performed the countercurse and Tonks's eyes flew open.

"Thanks Ron!" She flashed him a smile but paled when she saw at least three Death Eaters, Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and someone she didn't recognize, approaching them from behind. She made a slashing motion with her wand that created a huge gash across Rodolphus's face, causing him to start to head toward the ground because the blood flowing into his eyes was blocking his vision. Bellatrix, however, was blocking her curses left and right with simple flicks of her wand and sending even worse ones of her own back toward them. Both she and Ron had to make an effort to swerve out of the way of the ones they couldn't block in time and as time wore on, the pair was getting too exhausted both physically and magically to think straight.

"Avada-"

"Stupefy!" The third death eater that accompanied Bellatrix and Rodolphus had pulled up beside Tonks, who was too busy battling her aunt to pay attention to him, and began to murmur the killing curse but Ron had hit him in time. He fell off his broom and hurtled toward the ground.

"Good job!" Tonks said quickly. "Nice shot."

She deflected another one of Bellatrix's stunning spells before casting a strong shield charm to catch her breath.

"Giving up so easily, dearie?" The other woman hissed as her curses bounced off the shield. "I think that's a wise idea. What do you have to live for, now that I've killed your precious little-"

"Sectumsempra!" This was a spell she remembered hearing Snape yell in one of their battles and cringed when she saw large gashes open all over the woman's face. There must have been cuts all over her body as well because blood was beginning to leak through her blouse and drip down her arms. Ron's eyes widened in recognition of the curse but Tonks was too busy trying to evade her psychotic aunt to notice.

"You half-blood scum! Mark my words; I'll kill you for this." Bellatrix hissed, turning her broom around and starting to zoom away into the darkness. Or so Ron and Tonks thought. Suddenly a jet of white light flew toward them and Tonks threw herself in front of it to protect Ron from whatever spell the witch had decided to cast."CRUCIO!"

This was the second time that someone had used an unforgivable curse on her, both of the times it was the Cruciatus Curse, but she was unprepared for the effect that it would have. A scream of pain left Tonks's lips as she thrashed about in Ron's arms and convulsed wildly. It was like the world had gone black and silent, filled now with only agony and darkness. Her head was going to explode from the white-hot pain filling her skull, she knew it. Was she going to go insane, like Frank and Alice Longbottom? How long did she have until she lost her mind?

"Impedimenta!" Ron screamed. This made Bellatrix lose her concentration on the spell and swerve out of the way of the jet of blue light. "Tonks? Are you okay? Talk to me!"

"Get to Muriel's!" She hissed, trying to catch her breath. "Go!"

Ron leaned forward and focused all of his energy toward making the broom go as fast as possible. Tonks had her wand at the ready in case Bellatrix decided to attack again but this time, it looked like she was gone for good.

They landed in the yard of Ron's aunt Muriel's yard a moment later with a crash, they had hit a bird feeder, and the owner of the house came running when she heard them.

"Ron! What did I give you for your birthday this year?" Muriel had her wand pointed at him and he gulped. Tonks, who was lying on the ground, willed him to know the answer. And quickly, his aunt looked a bit restless.

"A nimbus 2002."

"What happened?" Muriel had put her wand away and was helping Tonks to her feet. "You missed your portkey by almost twenty minutes!"

"Death Eaters attacked." Tonks wheezed, leaning on the older woman for support. "They knew…We were… moving Harry."

It was hard for Tonks to speak and she felt like she could barely stand for another second. That's when she collapsed.

"Ronald, what happened to her?"

"She got hit with a Cruciatus curse by Bellatrix Lestrange." Ron fell to his knees at Tonks's side as his aunt ran into the house to get some sort of potion or medicine. "Tonks, are you okay?"

"Just need...Can't-"

"Here you are."

Tonks felt a warm and spicy tasting potion being poured into her mouth and gulped it down gratefully. She recognized the spicy flavour and realized that it must be a Pepper-Up potion from the way it warmed her from head to toe, made her more alert, and numbed the pain in her chest. After a moment, the weakness melted away and she found herself able to stand once more on her unsteady knees.

"Thank you Muriel."

"Don't you mention it. You two had better be on your way before Molly and the others worry too much about you."

Tonks paled instantly and felt her heart sink.

"Remus." She whispered. What if Bellatrix had been telling the truth? If he was dead, she didn't think she'd be able to go on. He had left her twice before and almost broken her heart, but she loved him more than anything and needed him to comfort her more than anything. She cleared her throat and raised her eyes to look into Muriel's. "Where is the Burrow from here? We shouldn't floo or apparate, that would make Harry's presence known if he weren't in the wards' boundaries yet."

"About 10 miles to the east. Fifteen minutes by broom."

"Thank you. Come on, Ron."

He hung back for a moment to shake his aunt's hand, she usually wasn't this welcoming and he knew that she wasn't one for hugs, because Merlin knows she deserved something after all the help she had given them. Then, he clambered onto the broom behind her and they soared off toward the Burrow.

The ride to the Burrow was uneventful, however the clap of thunder and the lightning lighting up the sky in the distance sent shivers down her spine. She wasn't a superstitious person, but she could recognize a bad omen when she saw one. After only 10 minutes of barrelling toward the house well over a normal speed on the broomstick, they landed clumsily in the front yard. Tonks had to dig her feet into the ground and send a spray of pebbles and gravel into the air to slow them down and keep from crashing.

"Remus!" She saw him standing near the door of the Burrow, his face deathly pale and his body apparently unable to move. She sprinted forward, threw her arms around him, and was instantly comforted by his familiar scent and the feel of his arms wrapping themselves around her in a protective gesture.

"What kept you? What happened?" He sounded almost angry at her and she looked up in surprise. His eyes were full of pain and worry, and she instantly remembered her promise. Don't be reckless, don't be the hero, just come back alive. But she hadn't gone against that oath, had she?

"Bellatrix tried to kill me, she wants me dead almost as much as Harry and-"

She couldn't bring herself to tell him about how she had been tortured yet. It would crush him.

"And?" He asked quickly.

"I definitely gave Rodolphus a good slash across the face and Ron stunned this other Death Eater that I couldn't recognize into oblivion. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him. Then Ron's Auntie Muriel fussed over us a bit," Ron flashed a curious and confused look her way that Remus definitely didn't miss. "And we came here. Missed the portkey by only twenty minutes."

She saw a muscle jumping in his jaw and that he was unable to say anything else. That's when Tonks decided to turn to Hermione, Kingsley, and Harry.

"So what happened to you lot?"

They recounted their own journeys with gusto but Tonks wasn't paying attention. Her eyes were still on her husband, who looked incredibly angry and extremely worried at the same time. She snapped out of her haze when Kingsley spoke a second time.

"I'm going to have to get back to Downing Street, I should have been there an hour ago. Let me know when they're back."

Lupin could only nod as Kinsley waved to everyone and walked out of the boundaries to disapparate with a faint _pop_. That was when Molly, Arthur, and Ginny sprinted from the house and each gave Ron a hug in turn. That's when they turned to Tonks and Remus.

"Thank you, for our sons." Molly was wiping tears from her eyes as Arthur rested his hands on her shoulders.

"Don't be silly, Molly," Tonks said at once. _After all, Ron had been the one protecting her when she had been stunned and cursed..._

She pulled the older witch into a hug and felt hot tears stain the leather of her jacket. Molly pulled away and Tonks gave her a small smile before taking a step back toward her husband.

"How's George?" Remus asked. Tonks spun to look at him in surprise. What had happened to the Weasley twin?

"What's wrong with him?" Ron asked anxiously.

"He's lost-"

Suddenly a thestral had landed in the garden and Bill and Fleur climbed down from its back with ease. Molly ran to her son's side and hugged both him and Fleur in turn.

"Bill! Thank God, thank God-"

But Bill was staring into his father's eyes and ignoring her completely. Tonks knew immediately that someone had died, just from being around death for so long, but was afraid to ask who it was. Bill answered that question a moment later without anyone's inquiries interrupting him.

"Mad-Eye's dead."

It was as if time had stopped for a moment and Tonks's heart shattered in her chest. Moody-her teacher, mentor, and best friend during her auror training surely could not be dead. He was filled with so much life, and no one should have been able to take that from him so easily. She felt tears stream down her cheeks and Remus's arms wrap around her waist from behind.

"We saw it," said Bill. Fleur appeared to be crying as well. "It happened just after we broke out of the circle: Mad-Eye and Dung were close by us, they were heading north too. Voldemort-he can fly- went straight for them. Dung panicked. I heard him cry out. Mad-Eye tried to stop him, but he disapparated. Voldemort's curse hit Mad-Eye full in the face, he fell backward off his broom and-there was nothing we could do, nothing, we had half a dozen of them on our own tail-"

"Of course you couldn't have done anything." Remus said as the younger man's voice broke. "Your lives were the priority. Mad-Eye would have wanted it that way."

They moved into the house and told Fred and George the news before going into the kitchen and sitting around the table. Tonks was still crying silently into a handkerchief that Remus had produced from his pocket and he had his arms wrapped around her.

"I can't believe he's gone." She sobbed quietly into the kerchief. Remus hadn't heard his wife sound this broken since... since he had left her the year before and hearing her cry made his heart feel heavy and his stomach ill.

"Come here." Remus pulled her into his lap and she cried silently into his chest. He was so concerned for her that he only looked up when Bill coughed loudly. There were two glasses of firewhiskey floating by their heads and Remus took them both, handing one to his distraught wife.

"To Mad-Eye."

"Mad-Eye." The room echoed, and drank. The firewhiskey burned Tonks's throat and did nothing to stop the tears from streaming down her cheeks. After about a sip or two, she placed the glass gently onto the kitchen table and wound her arms around her husband's waist once more.

"So Mundungus disappeared?" Remus said as he sat his empty glass on the table. Tonks's eyes widened when she realized that he had drained the entire contents of the glass in one swallow.

"He didn't betray us, he was the one who suggested the idea of having seven Harrys himself. He was just scared out of his wits when You-Know-Who attacked and disapparated. Anyone would have. I think he thought that Mad-Eye would be able to hold his own but-"

Bill's voice broke again and he knocked back another glass of firewhiskey.

"You-Know-Who acted exactly as Mad-Eye expected him to," Tonks was surprised that she was able to speak at all. Her throat was scratchy and her lips were dry, not to mention that her face was shining with tears. "He told me the other day that he'd expect the real Harry to be with the toughest, most-skilled aurors. He chased Mad-Eye first, and when Dung gave them away he switched to Kingsley…"

"Yes zat is eez all very good," Fleur snapped. "But zat does not explain 'ow he know that we were moving 'Arry tonight and not ze date we told zat one auror, Dawlish I zink? Someone let ze date slip."

Remus shot her an annoyed look for taking that tone with his wife but had to agree with her point.

"No. If anyone let it out, it wasn't on purpose." Harry interjected. "I know that none of you would _ever_ sell me out to Voldemort."

The twins joked and smiled slightly but Remus couldn't help but stare at Harry. He was so much like James just before he died.

"You think I'm a fool?" Harry spat at Remus, who looked surprised. His expression must have been different than what he'd thought it was.

"No, I think you're like your father. Who would have regarded it as the height of dishonour to mistrust his friends." Lupin turned toward Bill the moment he was done speaking so that Harry could not ask him any more questions. He just wanted to recover Moody's body, have a long chat with his wife about what really happened during the mission, and fall asleep with her in his arms. "There's work to be done. I can ask Kingsley if he can-"

"No. I'll come with you."

"Where are you going?" Tonks looked up from his chest and Fleur was giving her own fiancé a deathly stare.

"We need to recover Mad-Eye's body." Lupin replied. Tonks's eyes welled up with tears once more and he pulled her into a close hug before moving her back to her own chair.

"Can't it wait?" Molly asked.

"Not unless you'd rather the Death Eaters took it." Bill said bluntly.

Nobody else spoke as Remus and Bill said their good-byes and left.

"Be safe until I get back." Remus had murmured before pecking his wife on the cheek. It was a good thing he had decided to assume that she wasn't going with him. Tonks wasn't in her right mind and both of them knew she would hinder their efforts more than help them. "I'll be expecting you to wait here. It might not be safe at the flat anymore."

"Please, make sure you come back." Tonks whispered, tears still streaming down her cheeks. "I love you."

"I love you too, Nymphadora."

"Don't call me Nymphadora, you dummy." She smacked him lightly on the arm and gave him one last peck on the lips before he moved toward the exit.

Just as they had walked out the door, Harry spoke up.

"I've got to go too."

"Don't be silly. The whole point of tonight was to get you here safely. We've moved the wedding here and-" Molly tried to explain, but Harry wouldn't listen.

"But what if Voldemort finds out I'm here?"

"He won't." Molly said determinedly. Even Tonks had to admire her courage and determination.

"Yer not goin' anywhere." Hagrid growled. "After all we wen' through ter get yeh here?"

"And what about my bloody ear?" George protested.

"Language!" Molly snapped.

"Mad-Eye wouldn't have wanted you to put yourself in danger, Harry." Tonks said quietly from the other side of the room. He turned to look at her and instantly fell silent. As Remus and Bill made their way out the door, Tonks spoke to distract herself from the fact that she should have gone with him. "Molly, do you mind if Remus and I kip on the couch in your den tonight? He doesn't think the flat's safe anymore and my parents still have the new wards up."

"Of course, dear. Are you sure you don't want a bed?"

"We'll manage, I'll just make the couch a bit bigger. Thank you, I don't mean to impose-"

"You never do, dear. Go get some rest."

The second she left the room, the conversation continued and Harry began talking about his wand performing magic on its own against You-Know-Who. As interesting as this conversation sounded, she was extremely exhausted and had no desire greater than to lay down for a bit.

"Bollocks." She'd knocked over a lamp in her haste to leave the room and hastily repaired it. At least there hadn't been a crash because it fell onto the carpet. "Engorgio."

The couch expanded into the size of a bed and after a moment, it was covered in conjured pillows and blankets. She sank onto it with a grateful sigh and kicked off her black combat boots before curling into a ball on top of the covers and waiting for Remus to get back.

"How'd it go?" She'd needed to ask him when he returned at around three in the morning. He kicked off his own shoes and removed his jumper before crawling onto the couch beside her and pulling her into his arms. She knew at once that he was bringing back bad news and prepared herself for the worst.

"We didn't find him." Tonks choked back a sob and he rubbed her back, murmuring soothing words into her ear and placing kisses in her hair. "I know it's been a hell of a day for the both of us, but something's been bothering me ever since you got back."

"What, what actually happened when Ron and I were out getting our asses handed to us by Bellatrix?" She muttered. He sighed. "I'll tell you anyway, you're going to have to know sometime. Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Rookwood, and the other one followed us from Little Whinging almost all the way to Muriel's house. I got stunned in almost the first ten minutes of the battle because Rookwood flew over and cast it from the side but I was too worried about fighting off my dear aunt. She said-" Tonks took a deep breath. "She said you were dead. That she'd killed you."

"I'm sorry for treating you so horribly when you got back, I didn't know."

"That's not all of it, Remus." Tonks whispered. She retold the tale of their journey to Muriel's house, this time leaving out no details, and when she told him that Bellatrix had cast the Cruciatus curse on her, he snapped.

"I'm going to kill her." Remus growled, attempting to get up from the couch and grab his wand. "I'm going to kill her right now."

"Remus, no." Tonks wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. "Don't stoop to her level. Anyway, I don't know how long the curse lasted but Ron shot a spell at her and she ran for good that time. Then we crash-landed in Muriel's garden, I practically fainted and got some Pepper-up Potion, and we flew back here."

"I'm sorry." Remus's lips were white from pursing them into a thin line and Tonks brought a hand up to caress his cheek.

"Don't be, Remus. I understand."

"No! You don't!" His voice was getting louder and Tonks could hear movement from the landing on the stairs. A light clicked on from upstairs and a shadow moved from the hallway toward the stairs, then into the bathroom.

"Shh, you're going to wake up the whole house." She tried to comfort him by pulling him closer and it worked, his tone grew softer.

"You don't understand." His voice was barely a whisper. "I thought you were off trying to save everyone else, trying to be the valiant auror, and I was _furious_. I thought that you'd gone against the promise we made to each other and you were really out getting tortured beyond belief."

"Remus, don't beat yourself up about this." Tonks murmured. "I love you and you're here, that's all that matters. You're safe."

He had fallen silent again and Tonks was about to cry once more. This was a repeat of their last fight- now was his cue to say that he was selfish and that he wasn't good enough for her and leave. She felt him shift next to her, the first sign of his abandonment cycle, and began to speak once more.

"Don't you dare leave me, Remus." She sat up and hugged her knees tight to her chest. "I don't think I could take it if you got all overprotective again and I wouldn't have anyone to turn to. Please, I thought we got past all this crap when we got married."

That seemed to have struck a chord with him because he pulled her back into his arms and under the blankets with him, so that they were directly facing each other. She could see a few tears sliding down his cheeks and raised a hand to wipe them away.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Stop apologizing." She brought her lips to his own in a passionate and ferocious kiss, tangling her hands in the hair above the back of his neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her even closer. His hands moved higher under her shirt and she gave a squeak when he ran his fingers over her stomach and let them trail higher, up toward her breasts. He pulled her in for another kiss and moved toward the buttons at the top her shirt but she pulled away from him. He moved to roll over, a disappointed frown on his face, when she grabbed his arm and spoke urgently. "Remus, stop looking so hurt! We're in Molly and Arthur's living room for Merlin's sake!"

"I'd forgotten that for a moment." He said, smiling as she snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes. "Good-night, darling. I love you."

"Love you too, sweetheart." She mumbled, already half-asleep.

**So, how did you like it? Leave a review or send a private message please!**

**I've decided to go back and edit all of the previous chapters before I post a new one. First revision-I got rid of the pet name "Nym," because it was pissing off a lot of people (including me, after a while). I'm not changing anything big about the plot, so I guess you don't have to re-read everything if you don't want to. Okay? Good.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Homenum Revelio."

Tonks could only gape open-mouthed at the door of their flat, which was hanging barely on one hinge, as Remus cast the spell to reveal the presence of anyone still there. Nothing happened and he nodded, a sign that it was safe to enter. She was unprepared for what she would come to find inside, even after her experience at gruesome magical crime scenes all over the country, and had to hold back tears before they even walked through the door. All the furniture and most of their possessions had been shredded and basically destroyed. The tears escaped her eyes and slid down her cheeks when she saw the one photo of their wedding day they kept on the mantle in their sitting room had been torn to pieces. Remus pulled her into his arms and sighed, his eyes darting around the room to survey the damage.

"Nymphadora, it's going to be alright." He moved from her side to pick up the pieces of the photo she was staring at and waved his wand over them, re-creating the picture. "See, we can fix this."

"We can't live here anymore." She sighed unhappily, smiling slightly when she saw her and Remus's beaming faces moving around in the newly-repaired photograph. "We'll need to contact my mum and dad and ask them if we could stay at their place." Remus opened his mouth to protest but Tonks kept speaking. "I don't want to impose on your poor mother and she's already safe. My parents took Harry in yesterday after You-Know-Who himself chased after the poor kid and they're in as much danger as we are. I know they won't mind."

"I'll go pack what's left." Remus kissed her cheek and walked toward the bedroom. She watched him for a moment, his demeanor of false confidence that he held just for her and his eyes filled with worry, before seeing his face pale.

"Remus?"

"We need to leave. Now." He tried to stop her from looking into the room but failed miserably.

She was at his side in an instant and gasped when she saw what had become of their bedroom. There was blood splattered all over the walls and a message for Tonks written above the headboard.

_You're going to be punished for what you've done._

That's when she saw the body on the floor and gave a shriek of surprise. The person in question was their next door neighbor, a waitress from Madame Puddifoot's Tea Shop. She was pretty, blonde and curvy with blue eyes, but also extremely intelligent and had a dream to become a medi-witch. The job at the tea shop was supposed to pay her way through school at St. Mungos, but now her dreams would never become a reality because she was lying in a pool of her own blood on the floor, dead. Because of them.

"She probably heard them breaking in and tried to stop them." Remus whispered, pulling his wife to his chest to keep her from entering the room. "Don't go inside, they've probably cast destructive wards on the doorway."

"Let's go." She was clutching the photograph and his arm for dear life and turned on the spot to apparate. He sighed and glanced around their home one last time just before he was forced to go with her.

"Nymphadora!" Her mother had come running from inside the house when she heard them arrive and ushered them both into the wards surrounding the yard. Then she threw her arms around her daughter and pulled her close. "Harry was supposed to tell you to owl me when you got to the Burrow. Your father and I have been worried sick about you!"

"Sorry, it was late when we got back." Tonks mumbled. "We missed our portkey."

"Let's go inside and tell your father you're okay." Andromeda said, practically dragging her daughter into the house by the hand. "You can come too, Remus."

He walked swiftly toward the door and into the house behind them, his cheeks steadily reddening with traces of embarrassment.

"'Dromeda, I finished moving all the furniture out of the guest room. What's going on?" Ted Tonks had walked in and immediately dropped the chair he was levitating to embrace his daughter and then shake hands with Remus. "Thank God you're both alright. We'd actually feared the worst until we heard Alastor had died. Then we'd thought you had forgotten about us for a bit."

"Hit the nail right on the head." Tonks grumbled. Remus had to keep himself from snorting at her tone by concealing it behind a cough. His wife shot him a glare and he coughed even harder, his smile threatening to spread across his face.

"Do you need some water, dear?"

"I'm fine, thank you Andromeda." Remus smiled slightly and Tonks rolled her eyes. "Actually, the reason we've come tonight concerns what happened-"

"Aunt Bellatrix ransacked our flat." Tonks interrupted. Her mother's face went pale and her father let out a sigh. "And we have nowhere else to go. I'm not putting Remus's mother in danger and you're both already involved in what happens in the Order. Will you let us stay here for a little while until we figure out what to do?"

"You stay as long as you need." Ted spoke for both him and his wife, seeing that she was frozen in shock. "You can have the guest room. We were about to repaint it but-"

"Mum?" Tonks was instantly at her side and gripping her hand tightly. "It's okay-she didn't-Remus and I are fine. That's all you need to worry about."

"What happened?" She asked in a whisper. "What _did _she do?"

"We fought in the air just after Ron and I left the Burrow." Tonks began. "Rookwood stunned me at first but Ron pulled me onto his broom to keep me from falling. Then after a bit he remembered how to wake me up and Bellatrix and I were fighting again. This time, I shot a jinx at her but missed and hit Rodolphus in the face instead-I hope I hurt the bastard bad because he almost fell off his broom and fell behind the others. Ron stunned the third one, who I couldn't even recognize, and I shot a curse at my dear aunt. It looked like there were huge cuts opening all over her body but I couldn't tell what the curse did, exactly."

"Where did you hear about that particular curse?" Remus asked suddenly. "That sounds like one that was big in the Death Eater crowd during my school days."

"From Snape, actually. The incantation's Sectumsempra." His face paled instantly and he reached out, as if touching her would comfort him immensely. She grasped his hand in her free one and frowned. "What? It was a good thing that I'd used it on her before she could do it to me!"

"I agree." Ted said at once. Andromeda looked as if she was about to be sick. "Do you need to sit down, sweetheart?"

She shook her head and gestured for her daughter to continue.

"Anyway, then she shouted something about me going to pay for what I did to her and looked like she was turning to retreat. But she turned around the second we'd let our guard slip and hit me with a Cruciatus curse. I don't know how long it lasted but Ron cast a spell at her and she lost concentration on torturing me. After that she finally left and Ron and I made it to Muriel's. She gave me a pepper up potion because I almost fainted and we flew back to the Burrow. End of story."

"This is my fault." Andromeda snarled and Tonks almost jumped away from her in surprise. Her mother had her face screwed up in rage and had fire blazing in her usually calm-filled eyes. "My no good sister, I should have known that after we left Hogwarts she would turn out like this. I should have stopped her, done something to make her better. I should have done more to keep my own daughter safe!"

"Don't blame yourself." Tonks growled instantly. Andromeda calmed and took a step away from her daughter, into her husband's open arms. "I had to explain almost the same thing to Remus. What Bellatrix does is no one's fault but her own and none of you could have stopped her."

"You're right."

"I don't want to hear that you've dropped to her level because of me, mum." Tonks said. "You're one of the only respectable members of the house of Black and I know that everyone in this room would like to keep it that way."

"Let me show you to the guest room!" Ted put on a falsely cheerful smile as he noticed his wife's eyes begin to fill with tears. She hid it from her daughter and her son-in-law well, but everyone knew that something was wrong. "So you two can freshen up and get some well-deserved rest. God knows you must need it after your ordeal."

Tonks saw Remus's relieved expression and gave him a small smile. They had only gotten a good three hours of sleep that morning because half the house had woken up early to go to work and they had decided to help Molly prepare for the wedding for most of the day. Not until around dinnertime had Remus had the idea of checking the flat and Tonks couldn't refuse.

"Mum, can I have a word?" Tonks asked. Remus placed his hand on her arm in a soothing gesture before following her father to help him move the furniture back into the guest room. "I'm sorry about the family comment, that was going too far. I know you would _never_ act like Bellatrix and let what they've married into take control of your life."

"It's perfectly alright, dear. I understand." Andromeda pulled her daughter into her arms for a hug and smiled. She had wiped her tears away on her sleeve and looked more cheerful than she had before. "I know I would have said the same thing to my mother, if she had any good in her heart whatsoever. Now get some rest dear, before Remus has a heart attack. He couldn't stop looking at you this entire time and you look dead on your feet. He's probably worried sick."

"I'm running on two hours of sleep and a pepper up potion, I could use the rest." Tonks joked. Her mother frowned. "Fine, I'm going to bed."

"Tell Remus I said good-night."

After an uneventful week of painting, resting, and going to work to do paperwork ( Tonks's job description at the moment since Kingsley pulled her off of field duty), Harry's birthday was upon them. The couple had decided to get him a huge bar of chocolate from Honeydukes, obviously Remus's idea, and a picture of the Order that had been taken earlier that same year.

"Happy Birthday, Harry!" Tonks pulled the boy into a hug and kissed him on the cheek, smiling when he blushed. Remus patted him on the back and handed him the presents.

"You didn't have to get me anything, you know that." Harry protested. "You being here is what matters!"

"It was our pleasure." Remus said while his wife beamed. "You're seventeen now, a man in the eyes of the wizarding world."

"Thank you."

"Remus, Tonks, please sit! Have something to eat!" Molly Weasley had bustled across the yard and was ushering them toward a huge table topped with mounds of food. Tonks reached out and grabbed a mince pie, her first bite filled with delicious flavor leaving her taste buds aching for more. Just as she moved to take another, a patronus came hurtling into the back garden. She recognized it at once, and so did her husband. It was a weasel belonging to Arthur Weasley.

"Minister of Magic is with me." It said. Remus's face paled and he stood up instantly.

"We should go. Sorry Harry, I'll explain later!"

"Happy Birthday again Harry, see you soon!" Tonks grabbed her husband's hand and ran with him around the other side of the house and back to the gate so they could apparate to her parents' house. "Why are we running again?"

"Scrimgeour's approving some nasty anti-werewolf legislation and it would look bad for Harry if I was there with him." Remus sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Sorry-"

"Don't be. I love you, all of you. Even your werewolf bits."

"My what?"

"Oh, never mind."

And with that she grabbed his arm and turned sharply on her heel to apparate.

Bill and Fleur's wedding had finally arrived. Tonks was wearing a purple silk dress that hugged tightly to her curves and stopped just below her knees while Remus decided to sport a pair of traditional black dress robes. They arrived a few hours beforehand to help Molly set up, but their help was not needed. It was obvious that she had been ready for days but was getting paranoid at the last second.

The ceremony lasted forever, the minister was an old bag that wouldn't speak faster than about a word per minute, and Molly kept bursting into tears so he had to repeat himself multiple times. Tonks had almost fallen asleep but Remus, ever vigilant, had elbowed her in the ribs to keep her from resting her eyes for too long. However after the third time she had conked out, she woke up to see the ceremony coming to a close and Remus's head on her shoulder. He had fallen asleep as well.

"Remus." She whispered, pecking him quickly on the lips before ramming her elbow into his side.

"No need to retaliate." He groaned softly, rubbing the sore spot with the hand that wasn't holding her own. "I take it the kiss was an apology in advance?"

She grinned at him and suddenly pulled her hand away from his grip to clap and cheer loudly with the rest of the crowd. The ceremony had ended with a bang, some of Fred and George's fireworks were exploding loudly behind the altar, and the bride and groom were striding down the aisle hand-in-hand. The congregation followed them eagerly toward the reception tent and after about twenty minutes, the long-anticipated party had begun.

"Wotcher Barny!" Tonks called to a red-headed Weasley cousin, who turned to wave at her and send a wink in her direction. She still thought it was hilarious that Harry had to pretend to be a member of the family and apparently he did too because while he was talking to Ron, he was tugging on pieces of his ginger hair and laughing. "Want to dance, Remus?"

"I'd love to."

The first song was slow and jazzy, and had started a few minutes prior to them entering the tent. It was Bill and Fleur's first dance as a couple and other pairs had joined in, including Molly and Arthur and Fleur's parents. Remus led the way onto the dance floor and offered her his hand, which she took before he wrapped his other hand around her waist. They swayed to the slow beat of the music, their previous knowledge of dancing telling them that when actually trying to move the outcome would be disastrous, and after a moment Remus placed his other hand around her waist to pull her closer. Her own hands wound their way around his neck and toyed with his hair.

"Do you wish we had a wedding like this?" She murmured, resting her head on his chest.

"I actually don't care about the wedding aspect of our marriage." He said quietly. "I only care that I'm the lucky man that gets to be with you."

"You know you're the only man for me." She sighed, tilting her head up to kiss him passionately on the lips. "I love you."

After a few catcalls and wolf whistles from the twins' direction, they resumed dancing. After that, it was like the night went by in a fast-paced haze of liquor and pop music. The band that had played the first slow song had sped the music up considerably and they had danced to music like the Weird Sisters' for about a half an hour before Tonks had to take a break. There was another hour of conversation involved with that drink as she met Fleur's various French relatives and all of the members of the Weasley family.

"Having fun?" Remus appeared at her side with another shot of firewhiskey and laughed when she downed it in one gulp. "That bad?"

"I've had to listen to Elphias Doge rattle on about Rita Skeeter's portrayal of Dumbledore in her book and how it was a load of bullocks for the past quarter of an hour. I'm glad he decided to talk to _Barny _now and I'm finally free." Just as she was about to move toward the bar once more, a silvery light filled the tent and everyone went quiet.

"The ministry has fallen." Said the patronus that Tonks recognized as Kingsley's. "Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."

Suddenly the entire tent was in an uproar and Tonks had been separated from her husband's side. A group of black hooded figures appeared in the middle of the tent a moment later and she pulled her wand from the holster she had hidden on her thigh under her dress.

"Stupefy! Impedimenta! Incendio!" Curses were flying throughout the tent and she sighed when she saw that one idiot had actually set the canvas on fire.

"Aguamenti!" She focused on putting the flame out before surveying the scene around her. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had just disapparated from somewhere behind her and wedding guests were falling to the ground left and right, some being stunned and others killed. Luckily she recognized none of the people on the ground and realized that all the members of the Order must still have been fighting.

Without warning a sharp pain filled her side and she fell to the ground, clutching her ribs. When she pulled a hand away from the area she saw that it was covered in blood and grew dizzy from the sight.

"That's for what you did to me, you little bitch." Rodolphus Lestrange's figure was looming over her weakened form and she raised her wand to send a curse his way. The second she was ready to fire, however, he cast a disarming charm and her wand flew into the middle of the battle, rendering her completely defenseless. Then he pointed to the huge scar that covered half of his face. "Look at this, even a healer wasn't able to get rid of the scar. My beautiful face! I guess I'll just have to do the same to yours."

He raised his wand arm and lowered it in a slashing motion while it was pointed toward her face. In that instant, her vision was obscured by the warm red liquid leaking from a deep cut on her forehead and she cursed loudly while scooting backward toward the wall of the tent. Rodolphus laughed and sent another curse her way, this time cutting open one of her cheeks.

"Reducto!"

Rodolphus flew through the air at an amazing height and hit his head on the high, canvassed ceiling before crashing down on the other side of the tent. Remus was at her side in an instant, her wand in his hand and a napkin in his other hand that he used to wipe the blood away from her eyes. She could see, once her eyes were clear of the sticky red substance, that his face was contorted in rage.

"Remus?" She was getting light-headed from blood loss. "Merlin, I'm useless in a fight aren't I?"

"Just caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, dear." He mumbled, holding the napkin over her eyes and keeping pressure on the wound. "Are you okay?"

"Are the Death Eaters gone?"

"Just about. Rodolphus and Bellatrix were the last two to stay. I was fighting her off so she wouldn't have the chance to look for you."

"That's nice. Hey, is the room spinning or is it just me?"

"Nymphadora Tonks, don't you pass out-"

She had fallen unconscious just before he finished his sentence and after a few softly muttered curses, he picked her up in his arms and carried her toward the house.

**Not as long as the last one, I know. But I thought you'd want something to tide you over for the night…morning? Whatever counts for wherever the hell you are.**

**Also, I know that the birthday scene was extremely short. I didn't think it was that important, except for the anti-werewolf part. And to skip it entirely would be a crime since it actually has Remus and Tonks present there in the book.**

**Please review or private message me with compliments, criticism, or maybe a joke. I could use a laugh.**

**But seriously, I would appreciate the review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: None of the characters or the plot are mine…Yet. WARNING! Some actual dialogue from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows owned by J.K. Rowling and NOT me is used in this chapter-when Remus goes to Number 12 Grimmauld place and asks to take part in Harry's mission.**

**Also, I added a bit more…vulgarity to how the characters speak than what J.K. wrote. Normal teenagers don't use some of the language she puts in there in daily conversation, so I'm refusing to do so. Now, on to the real story!**

"Oh thank Merlin, Andromeda! She's awake!"

Tonks blinked furiously when she opened her eyes, the light from the room almost blinding her, and smiled when she heard her husband's voice from beside her.

"How long have I been out?" Her own voice sounded weak, her throat felt scratchy, and her side ached furiously when she spoke. "And why is my mum here? Are we at the Burrow?"

"No. The death eaters are interrogating the Weasleys at the Burrow. We're at Muriel's and before you argue and try to leave, she insisted that we stay here." He said, purposefully avoiding her first few questions for a moment before continuing. "And you were unconscious for a little under a day."

"What about my parents? Why are they here instead of home? What happened?"

Remus sighed loudly and gripped her hands tightly within his own before continuing.

"Your parents were tortured just after the wedding for Harry's whereabouts by Bellatrix and Rodolphus." She instantly fell silent and Remus moved onto the bed to pull her into his arms. "They're both okay, though. Just a bit shaken."

"The next chance I get to duel Bellatrix-"

"Nymphadora!" Her mother had run into the room just then and brought her daughter into her arms. "Are you alright?"

"Mum, only you would worry about me after you'd been cursed!" Tonks had her face buried in her mother's shoulder and was fighting to hold back tears. "How are you and dad? You're both okay, aren't you?"

"Your father's outside, helping to put up the new defense spells." Andromeda hugged her daughter even more tightly but moved back quickly when she flinched in pain. "Where does it hurt?"

Before Tonks could speak, her mother had pulled her shirt up to reveal her bandaged side and hissed when she saw blood seeping through the thick layer of white gauze. Her wand was out in an instant and the bandage vanished to reveal an extremely large and deep gash in her daughter's side.

"Remus, I'm going to need some water and a new bandage. My healing spells won't be able to clean it as well as water would." He bolted out of the room instantly and could be heard calling Muriel's name before the door slammed shut. Andromeda began murmuring complicated enchantments that closed the wounds slowly, but suddenly a golden light appeared at the end of her wand tip. This caused her to smile and wave her wand over her daughter's stomach, where a cloud of silver mist appeared before turning to gold.

"I've seen this spell before!" Tonks said, sighing as the pain began to disappear from her side and grinning at her mother. "Does this mean-am I-?"

"Three weeks along!"

No she couldn't be, could she? The last time she and Remus had slept together was on their wedding night, a week before they had moved Harry, because she was swamped at work and he was on a mission. That's when she remembered. At her parents' house, the first night they had arrived, Remus cast a bunch of silencing spells and they-

"Does the water have to be warm?" Remus appeared in the doorway with a basin full of steaming water and about twenty feet of bandage, interrupting her thought. After a moment, he saw the golden cloud himself and dropped the basin to the floor, spilling its contents everywhere.

"Scourgify." Her mother cleaned the water from the floor with a wave of her wand and summoned the basin and the bandage to her side. Then she made quick work of cleaning the section of the gash that did not heal itself and bandaged it before standing up and walking toward the door. "I'll leave you alone for a bit…"

"Remus?" His face had paled and he was staring at her stomach. The mist had disappeared, but it still looked as if she was glowing. "I know something's wrong, just tell me. Are you angry-"

"Of course I'm not angry." He whispered, moving to the bedside and placing a hand on her abdomen. "There's a piece of me right here, a baby. Our baby. It's just-"

"Just what? You regret this, don't you? You regret us-"

"Don't put words in my mouth, Nymphadora!" He hissed, shooting her a glare before dropping his head into his hands. "I could never regret marrying you- it was the best decision of my life. It's this child that I'm worried about. What if it's like me, a werewolf? I don't think I could live with myself if that disease was passed on to our baby."

"I wouldn't mind-"

"I'm sure you wouldn't, until the anti-werewolf legislation is passed and our child has no rights! And what if the war lasts longer than we thought it would? We're already being targeted by your aunt and her husband and the baby's going to be their first priority to kill when it's born. You have no idea what we've created and you're being naïve about this whole situation!"

"You're calling _me_ naïve?" Tonks let out a sarcastic laugh. "You're the one who had sex with me and when we did, I thought you were aware of what the consequences could be. Now you're yelling at me for being pregnant with your child."

"I'm not yelling." Remus said, feigning a calm expression. She could see that his eyes were full of fury. "I'm just telling you, I feel guilty for what I've already done to this child-"

"And what if he's not a werewolf?" Tonks interrupted. "What if you can't pass the gene on?"

"I don't know." Remus snapped. "But I can't-I'm not going to be able to do much to support you and the baby! I'm old, poor, and extremely dangerous. I should have never-"

"You're going to be a great father, Remus!" She said. "Our baby's going to be a great person because you're his dad! You're kind, intelligent, funny, caring-"

"Stop." She trailed off when she heard the hurt filling his voice. "I've been a fool about this entire situation and I should have never let our relationship come this far. I swore to myself when I was young that I would never force my condition onto anyone else, especially another child, and now I've gone against that promise. I'm so sorry, Nymphadora."

He stood and walked toward the door, unable to look back at her because he knew that she would be crying. His resolve was the only thing keeping him going and seeing that would crack it into pieces.

"What do you want me to do?" She yelled. He stopped at the door, his hand gripping the doorknob. "I'm already pregnant, Remus. Tell me what I should do and I'll do it! Please, just stay here with me."

"I'm sorry." He repeated before walking out of the door and, even though she didn't know it right then, out of her life.

"Remus!" She attempted to stand but found that her legs were too weak to support her. Her body fell to the floor with a thud and she began to sob. "Wait! Come back, I'm sorry!"

But the only footsteps she heard coming toward the room were actually her mother's, who entered the room and was at her daughter's side in an instant. Instead of saying anything, however, Andromeda pulled her daughter into her arms and let her cry openly into her shoulder.

* * *

After about a week at Muriel's, Tonks's parents realized that staying there-in the house where her husband had left her, was making her daughter feel worse emotionally. They decided, spur of the moment, to move in with Grandpa Tonks. Arthur went with them to cast a Fidelius charm around the house and Ted became the secret-keeper.

"'Ello darling." Eugene Tonks pulled his distraught granddaughter into a tight hug and smiled at her. "I heard I have a great-grandchild on the way. How far along are ya?"

"Just a couple of weeks." Tonks managed to croak, smiling softly at her grandfather and placing a hand over her stomach. Her parents turned their heads to look at her, stunned expressions on their faces. Those had been the first words she said since Remus left. "How are you?"

"Alright. The-what is it you call us, muggle, car industry's been kind to me these past few years." He gestured to the walls of books that covered almost every room. "I've bought and read almost every wizarding book in existence in my free time to try and have a conversation with you lot! It's a bit exciting, isn't it?"

Tonks laughed and took her grandfather's arm as he offered it to her. They walked up the stairs and into a bedroom that contained a record player and three walls of filled bookcases.

"I went out of my way and bought all the Weird Sisters' albums." Her grandfather winked and she giggled. "Yes, I know who they are, dearie. I've read about them in the _Daily Prophet_ for weeks and listened to their latest album at least ten times. You'd better get the kid hooked young!"

"Thanks Gramps." Tonks wrapped her arms around him and felt tears leaking from her eyes. "Damn, I can't stop crying. I'm an auror for Merlin's sake, I should be able to control this!"

She was correct in her statement. Aurors were trained to keep their emotions in check 24/7, seven days a week, but that was the part of the exam she'd nearly failed in the academy. Tonks was an emotional person before and the hormones that came with the pregnancy made her cry at least five times a day, making her seem like even more of a failure at her job. Five years of training and seven at Hogwarts down the drain…

"Dora, you need to calm down." Her grandfather sat her down on the bed and took a place beside her. "This wasn't your fault-"

"I could have stopped him! I could have-" Her hormones were getting the better of her once again and she was sobbing so hard that it was difficult for her to breathe.

"Dora, breathe." Her grandfather was rubbing circles on her back and slowly, she was calming down. "He loves you. He'll come back."

"What if he doesn't?" Tonks whispered.

"Then bugger him," Her grandfather looked so serious that she couldn't help but laugh. "If he doesn't realize what he's left, he doesn't deserve it."

"You always know how to make me feel better," Tonks mumbled, smiling slightly. "Cursing out my husband and buying my unborn child pop music."

"You two got married? And that tosser up and left you? I'm going to find him myself!" Eugene looked furious and actually stood up before Tonks sighed and grabbed his arm. "Don't try to stop me, dear. I'm in a furious rage!"

"You're barely even angry!"

"This," He gestured from his red face to his hands curled into fists. "Is about as close to that furious rage I'm going to get to at my age. I'm actually proud of this accomplishment, even though the cause is a load of-"

"Dad! Stop corrupting Nymphadora." Ted had entered the room and was eyeing his father and daughter suspiciously. "What did you say that got your granddad this worked up?"

"Just that Remus and I got married."

"And I am personally going to tear his bollocks-"

"DAD!" Ted's face turned red but his father only laughed and continued speaking over him. Tonks only missed a part of it Eugene's plan because Ted started speaking louder and louder and his dad finally had to smack him on the arm before continuing.

"And feed them to the dogs!" Eugene finished over his son's cries. "Jesus, Ted, you're such a prude!"

Tonks was laughing so hard that tears of happiness were coming out of her eyes. Her hair turned from the floppy brown mop that she had been sporting since her husband left and turned into a bright blue pixie 'do. Her father and her grandfather were too busy to notice but when her mother came into the room, Tonks felt a hand run through her hair and saw her mother's smiling face at her side.

"We'll get through this now, I'm sure of it."

* * *

Remus arrived outside 12 Grimmauld place around the end of August. He had been meaning to arrive just after he and Tonks split up, but the Death Eaters surrounding the place and the one tailing him prevented him from entering. If his assumption was correct, Harry, Ron, and Hermione would be staying in the house for a while to regroup before setting out on their mission. It had taken him two weeks to lose his tail in the Scottish highlands and he had immediately apparated onto the front doorstep and entered the house just after the accomplishment.

"I didn't kill you." He said calmly. Mad-Eye had warned him personally of the curses he set on the house to keep the Death Eaters out but it was still unnerving to see the dead headmaster's body floating toward him. After, he murmured the countercurse to the charm and became visible once more.

"Who's there?" A call came from toward the kitchen. Suddenly Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing before him with their wands raised.

"Hold your fire, it's me, Remus."

"FILTHY HALF BLOODS AND BEASTS IN MY OWN HOUSE! MUDBLOODS TOO, AND BLOOD TRAITORS! STAINING MY OWN HOME WITH THEIR FILTH-"

"Oh shut up, you old hag!"Remus flicked his wand to cast an incredibly strong silencing charm, the one he'd learned from Sirius while he was living here, and the portrait became quiet. He was surprised that his voice sounded tired and he glanced over to the grimy mirror in the entryway to see that he looked the same as he felt, defeated. His hand ran through his hair and he sighed.

"Thank goodness," Hermione lowered her wand, followed by Ron, but Harry did not. "Harry-"

"Show yourself!"

Remus realized that there was still a cloud of dust obstructing the entryway from the "ghost" of Dumbledore's passing through and moved forward into the lamplight, his hands up in the air in a gesture of surrender.

"I am Remus John Lupin, werewolf, sometimes known as Moony, one of the four creators of the Marauder's Map, married to Nymphadora, usually known as Tonks, and I taught you how to produce a patronus, Harry, which takes the form of a stag."

"Oh, all right," Harry lowered his wand and Remus brought his hands back down to his sides. "But I had to check, didn't I?"

"Speaking as your Ex-Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, I quite agree that you had to check. Ron, Hermione, you shouldn't be so quick to lower your defenses." He removed his travelling cloak and gestured toward the kitchen. "So, no sign of Severus?"

"No." Harry said. "But what's going on? Is everyone okay?"

"We're all being watched. By the way, there are a couple of death eaters in the square outside-"

"We know."

"And I had to apparate onto the doorstep while concealing myself with a Disillusionment charm. I don't think they know you're in here or they'd have more people outside; they've been stalking every connection to all of you."

They finally made it down the stairs and into the kitchen. Hermione pointed her wand at the fireplace and the room instantly began to fill with warmth. Remus happened to have a few butterbeers tucked away inside the pocket of his robes, he had taken them from the wedding, and pulled them out for the group to share.

"I would have been here ages ago but I couldn't shake off the death eater tailing me and I didn't want to give away your position once I'd realized you were here." Remus started, taking a large swig of butterbeer. "So, you came straight here after the wedding? Any problems?"

"Actually, we ran into a couple of death eaters on Tottenham Court Road the second after we'd disapparated from the Burrow." Harry said. Remus's butterbeer spilled all over the front of his robes as he flinched in surprise.

"_What?"_

"Yeah, we were in this café after we changed clothes and drinking-what were they, Hermione?"

"Cappuccinos."

"Right," Ron continued, smiling at her. "So, these maintenance workers come into the place and started dueling with us. We won, of course, and wiped the memories of all them and the people working there before coming here."

"But how did they find you so quickly? It's impossible to track people who apparate unless you're an auror and have learned the spell or you grab onto them when they disappear!"

"And it doesn't seem likely they were just strolling down Tottenham Court road at the same time, said Harry.

"We wondered," Hermione started. Remus leaned back in his chair, expecting her explanation to be long-winded. He was pleasantly surprised. "Whether Harry could still have the Trace on

him?"

"Impossible!" Remus said, astounded. How did he not consider that before? He eyed Ron's smug and Harry's relieved expressions before continuing. "Apart from anything else, they'd know for sure Harry was here if he still had the Trace on him, wouldn't they? But I can't see how they could have tracked you to Tottenham Court Road, that's worrying, really worrying."

"Tell us what happened after we left, we haven't heard a thing since Ron's dad told us the family were safe."

Remus was surprised that Arthur would take that much of a risk, sending out his patronus, without knowing where his son was and possibly putting his family in danger. He began to answer Ron's question anyway.

"Kingsley saved us with his patronus," He began. "Most of the wedding guests were able to Disapparate before they arrived. A few of Fleur's cousins and a couple of guests-neighbors or people Bill and Fleur met in Egypt, didn't make it."

"Who attacked, death eaters or people from the Ministry." Hermione interjected.

"A mixture; but to all intents and purposes they're the same thing now." Remus replied. "There were about a dozen of they, but they didn't know you were there, Harry. Arthur heard a rumor that they tried to torture your whereabouts out of Scrimgeour before they killed him; if it's true, he didn't give you away." Remus watched the trio exchange surprised looks before he continued speaking. "The death eaters searched the Burrow from top to bottom. They found the ghoul, but didn't want to get too close-and they interrogated those of us who remained for hours. They were trying to get information on you, Harry, but of course nobody apart from the Order knew that you had been there."

Ron had looked worried when the Burrow was mentioned but now he looked relieved.

"At the same time that they were smashing up the wedding, more death eaters were forcing their way into every Order-connected house in the country. No deaths," He answered the question before any of them could ask it. "but they were rough. They burned down Dedalus Diggle's house, but you know he wasn't there because he and Hestia are protecting Harry's family, and they used the Cruciatus curse on Tonks's family. They're all right-shaken, obviously, but otherwise okay."

"The death eaters got through all those protective charms?" Harry asked as he remembered how they had fended off Voldemort when he and Hagrid crash-landed in the Tonks' garden.

"What you've got to realize, Harry, is that the death eaters have got the full might of the Ministry on their side now. They've got the power to perform brutal spells without fear of identification or arrest. They managed to penetrate every defensive spell we'd cast against them, and once inside, they were completely open about why they'd come."

"And are they bothering to give an excuse for torturing Harry's whereabouts out of people?" Hermione asked, outraged.

"Well…" Remus rooted around in his pocket for a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ and pulled it out. "Here you are, the brilliant reason behind all this."

**Harry Potter: Wanted for Questioning About the Death of Albus Dumbledore**

"I'm sorry, Harry." He said when he saw the distraught look on the boy's face.

"So the death eaters have taken over the Prophet as well, then?" Hermione asked.

"Surely people must realize what's going on under their own noses?" Ron asked.

"The wizarding population has been virtually silent about all this." Remus said. "The official version of Scrimgeour's murder is that he retired, he was quite old anyway for the post of minister-around sixty actually, and was replaced by Pius Thicknesse, who is under the Imperius Curse.

"Why doesn't Voldemort just declare himself Minister of Magic."

Remus laughed. Only Ron would suggest such an outrageous idea.

"He doesn't need to, Ron. Effectively, he _is_ minister, but why should he be forced to sit behind a desk at the Ministry? His puppet, Thicknesse is taking care of everyday business while he's out controlling the death eaters and trying to kill you! Naturally, a lot of people have deduced this has happened, but they're afraid to speak out. I'd be, too."

"And this change of power is to pit the wizarding world against me instead of Voldemort?"

"Partly." Remus took another swig of butterbeer. His throat had gone dry. "The Ministry is now moving against Muggle-borns as well. Look at page 2."

He watched Hermione flip to the page quickly, a frown forming on his own face as he watched hers while she read.

"People won't let this happen." Ron sounded outraged. He had read the article over her shoulder and turned beet red with anger.

"It's already happening, Ron. Muggle-borns are being rounded up as we speak. The ministry is accusing them of 'stealing magic' and calling it an offense worthy of imprisonment in Azkaban. Nevertheless, unless you can prove that you have at least one close Wizarding relative, you are deemed to have obtained your magical power illegally and must suffer the punishment."

"What if purebloods and half-bloods swear a Muggle-born's part of their family. I'll tell everyone Hermione's my cousin-" He had gripped her hand fiercely in his own and was holding it tightly.

"Ron, as we're on the run with Harry Potter, the most wanted person in the country, I don't think it matters. If I was going back to school it would be different. What's Voldemort planning for Hogwarts?"

"Attendance is now obligatory for every young witch and wizard." Remus said. "That way, Voldemort will have the whole wizarding population under his eye from a young age. Also, it's another way of weeding out the Muggle-borns, because students must be given blood status-they prove to the Ministry that they're from wizarding descent-before they can attend."

"That's complete and utter bollocks." Ron spat.

Remus decided to breach another topic while everyone was fuming, but hesitated.

"I understand if you can't confirm this, Harry, but the Order is under the impression that Dumbledore left you a mission."

"He did. Ron and Hermione are the only two other people I was allowed to tell and they're coming with me."

"Can you confide in me what this mission is?"

He saw that Harry was staring at him with a look of regret on his face.

"I'm sorry, Remus, I can't. If Dumbledore didn't tell you, then I don't think I can."

"I thought you'd say that," Remus was disappointed. That's when he had another brilliant thought. "But I might still be of some use to you. You know what I am and what I can do. I could come with you to provide protection. There would be no need to tell me what the mission is, exactly."

Harry looked intrigued but Hermione just looked puzzled.

"What about Tonks?"

Remus's heart ached just hearing her name but he blinked furiously to give himself a distraction before replying.

"What about her?"

"Well," Great. Now Hermione was frowning and using her 'worried mother tone.' "You're married! How does she feel about you going away with us?"

"Tonks will be perfectly safe," Remus growled. "She'll be at her parents' house."

He knew that sounded like a load of shit and could see it in Hermione's eyes. Everyone in that room knew that his wife was an experienced auror and was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. That's when he sighed and ran his hand through his hair again.

"Remus," Hermione sounded a bit scared. "Is everything… you know, all right between you and-"

"Everything is fine, thank you." Remus said pointedly. This was not something that he wanted to talk about and everyone in the room knew it. It was also blatantly obvious that he was hiding something. "Tonks is going to have a baby."

He almost cringed at the tone of his voice. It sounded like he was repulsed at the idea of having a child and that his wife was the most disgusting thing in the world when in fact, he was only disgusted at himself. What he wasn't expecting to hear at all were their excited reactions.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Hermione squealed.

"Wicked!" Ron said enthusiastically.

"Congratulations, Remus." Harry said, smiling at his former professor. Remus tried to smile back, but it probably turned out more like a grimace because Harry frowned.

"So… do you accept my offer? I can't believe that Dumbledore would have disapproved, he appointed me as your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. And I must tell you that I believe that we are facing magic many of us have never encountered or imagined."

He watched Ron and Hermione both stare at Harry, who opened his mouth to speak.

"Just-just to be clear, you want to leave Tonks at her parents' house and come away with us?"

"She'll be perfectly safe there, they'll look after her." Remus muttered. "Harry, I'm sure James would have wanted me to stick with you and keep you safe."

"Well, I'm not. I'm pretty sure my father would have wanted to know why you aren't sticking with your own kid, actually."

Remus felt his own face pale and the temperature in the room drop below freezing. Ron made it a point to look away from Harry and Remus while Hermione's eyes darted between the two of them.

"Y-you don't understand."

"Explain."

It was funny how the teacher-student roles were reversed. Remus felt like he was back in school, being scolded for tossing dungbombs at Snape by Professor Dumbledore because he was a prefect and should have known better.

"I-I made a grave mistake in marrying Tonks. I did it against my better judgment and have regretted it ever since."

Lies. And everyone knew it. He even sounded repulsed by the words he was saying and his heart ached to be back with his wife.

"I see, so you're just going to dump her and the kid and run off with us?"

Remus was on his feet in an instant and the chair he was sitting on toppled backward. He was sure that his expression became wolfish and feral because Harry, Ron, and Hermione especially began to shrink away from him.

"Don't you understand what I've done to Tonks and my unborn child?" He roared, kicking aside the chair and moving to pace in front of the fire. "I should never have married her, I've made her an outcast, especially in these times!"

He fell onto his knees, seizing handfuls of his graying hair in his hands and resisting the urge to howl in anger. His appearance must have looked quite deranged because Ron actually grabbed Hermione's hand and was inching toward the door. She, however, stood her ground.

"You have only ever seen me amongst the Order or with Dumbledore's protection at Hogwarts! You don't know how most of the wizarding world sees creatures like me, and when they hear of my lycanthropy they won't even speak to me! Don't you see what I've done? Even her own family is disgusted by our marriage, what parents want their only daughter to marry a werewolf? And the child-"

Tears were rolling down his cheeks but he didn't care. The only thing he wanted now was his wife's arms around him. He wanted her to tell him that everything was going to be okay. He wanted to hear her voice, to hear her say "I love you." But he knew that he could never again have those things. He didn't deserve them after what he'd done to her.

"My kind don't usually breed! It'll be like me, I'm certain. And how can I forgive myself knowing that I've caused this child the same pain that Fenrir Greyback inflicted upon me when I was so young. And, if by some miracle, it's not like me then it should grow up without a father of whom it must always be ashamed!"

"Remus!" Hermione was crying as well. "Don't say that, how could any child be ashamed to have you as a father? You're caring, kind-"

"Stop!" He snarled. "That's exactly what _she_ said right before I had to go. I don't know how anyone but Dumbledore saw me in that way, I'm a monster."

"Oh, I'd be pretty ashamed of him." Remus looked at Harry with eyes half full of surprise and uncontrollable anger. "If the new regime thinks Muggle-borns are bad, what will they do to a half-werewolf whose father's in the Order? My father died trying to protect my mother and me, and you reckon he'd tell you to abandon your kid to go on an adventure with us?"

"How dare you?" Remus was back on his feet and standing directly across the table from Harry, glaring at him with a furious expression on his face. " To suggest that I would go on this quest for glory or to have a taste of danger! And you didn't even know James, how would you-"

This pushed Harry over the edge.

"I think you're feeling a bit of a daredevil, you fancy stepping into Sirius's shoes-"

"Harry, stop!"

"I'd have never believed this," Harry snarled. "The man who taught me to fight dementors, a coward."

It happened so fast. Remus, controlled by rage and absolute hatred, had drawn his wand so quickly that even Harry didn't notice and sent a curse at the boy that made him fly back into the wall. He heard a loud cracking noise and blood start to seep from Harry's nose, a satisfying thing to see for the angry and wolfish side of the older man, before storming out of the kitchen.

"Remus, Remus, come back!" Hermione was crying from the kitchen.

She sounded just like Tonks had when he left her at Muriel's house-but not as broken and hysterical. He made an extra effort to slam the front door as he walked onto the front step and turned on his heel to disapparate, not knowing where he'd end up and not caring in the slightest.

He appeared outside the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade, one of his old haunts, and stared at it for a moment before unlocking the gates and making his way inside. When he reached the bedroom, he cast a cleansing spell on the bed and collapsed upon it in a heap.

"Fuck, I cursed Harry." He finally realized what he had done and said it out loud, knowing that no one would be able to hear him. "My best friend's son. Fuck, fuck, fuck."

_But the boy had deserved it, hadn't he?_

It sounded like the wolf was talking, that's how he referred to his darker side- as the feral, animalistic beast that he became once a month. He sat there, fuming and letting what Harry had said get the better of him for a moment, before sitting up and rooting through the pockets of his travelling cloak. After a moment of furious searching, he had found what he was looking for. A picture, not taken by a wizard but a muggle, of his wife at their wedding day. Ted Tonks had insisted that they pose in a lot of crazy positions and he would take pictures for them to put in a scrapbook. This one was the only one that Remus took out of the book and kept with him because it was his favorite.

His wife's hair was short, spiky, and pink and she was standing with her arms wrapped around his waist. His hands were cupping her cheeks and his lips were claiming her own in a passionate kiss.

"Why did I leave her?" He howled, not caring that the people of Hogsmeade could probably hear him now that he was so loud. "I'm such a fool!"

If there had been any way to get a free bottle of firewhiskey up to the shack without being noticed by Rosmerta or Aberforth, he would have thought of it as he sat there, moping. After a while of just letting the tears slide down his face, he fell into a restless sleep.

The image that clouded his dreams was a woman with pink hair kissing him full on the lips, then turning on him when she realized that it was the full moon and he and their child would be transforming. She was his dream and his nightmare, and she was like a drug. He just couldn't get enough.

"Nymphadora."

**Yeah, I know I used a lot of JKR's dialogue, but Eugene Tonks makes up for it right? Yeah, I figured!**

**And I tried to put my own spin on most of the dialogue except for the explanations… Well they're there, aren't they? Why shouldn't I make use of them before I branch away from the crappy ending of the book. Yeah, everybody knows that the ending wasn't to die for J.K., you should have spiced it up a bit.**

**Sorry, it's two in the morning and I'm crabby because I had to write about Remus and Tonks being sad without each other.**

**Please review!**

**Happy Turkey Day to all you Americans out there too…**


	4. Chapter 4

**Let me apologize now for being such a crappy writer. I haven't even thought about updating for a while because of school and the holidays... And I joined a DCA drum and bugle corps that holds rehearsals on the weekends so I haven't had much free time. Anyway, I promise to find time to update in the future. Now, on with the show. **

Remus spent his days in quiet solitude, sitting on his bed in the attic room of the Shrieking Shack and wallowing in misery. He never succumbed to the thought of pitying himself, however, because he knew that he deserved this punishment. He could never forgive himself for damning their child and breaking his wife's heart, and being separated from her was the worst torture he could think of.

One day, near the end of September, he awoke to a rapping on the door of the bedroom. This confused him greatly because the door was swinging by a hinge, not exactly worthy to knock on, and the front door had been boarded shut. He deduced that the person arriving had to have come from Hogwarts.

"Who is it?" He called weakly, surprised by the sound of his own voice. He hadn't spoken at all in the time since he'd left his wife. There was no reason to.

"Remus?" The person stepped into the room and he instantly recognized the voice of Minerva McGonagall- his once-colleague, transfiguration professor at Hogwarts, and his friend. "You look absolutely awful. What in Merlin's name are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He croaked, struggling to sit up and speak with her face to face. "I'm giving myself the life I deserve, one full of loneliness."

"I see you haven't been eating." Minerva completely ignored his last comment and gestured toward the many baskets of food, some fresh and some rotting, that were collected in a corner of the room. "I didn't think you would be wasteful like this, it isn't like you."

"I don't deserve-"

"Remus, Nymphadora would be even more distraught than she is now if you killed yourself in here." Minerva interrupted, her eyes filled with annoyance and a hint of anger. He flinched at her merciless tone. "When I saw her last week, she-"

"Why were you visiting her?" Remus asked immediately. "I haven't gotten any news in here, what happened? Is-"

"Poppy and I have been giving her prenatal care." Minerva interrupted. "St. Mungos and almost every other public wizard-run facility have been taken over by the Death Eaters and she was afraid to go. She recently submitted her resignation to Kingsley and the new minister is less than pleased. He's been trying to find her for the past few weeks, on You-Know-Who's orders probably, but thankfully the house is under the Fidelius charm."

"Is she alright?" Remus asked, trying to push the pain trying to surface deeper into his mind. "Her parents' house is still perfectly safe, isn't it?"

"She hasn't been living at her parents' house, she and her mother are at Ted's father's place." Minerva took a seat in one of the dusty, rickety chairs near the door and vanished the rotting food with a flick of her wand. "That's better. Anyway, Ted and Andromeda's wasn't safe after they were tortured by Rodolphus and Bellatrix so they had to move. Then when Ted received an owl from the ministry saying that he needed to be registered and he left to protect Andromeda and Nymphadora. Your wife is extremely depressed and she's lost a lot of weight. Her mother is unable to give her much comfort because she's worried about Ted most of the time, but Andromeda's trying her best. Both of them are extremely distraught, Poppy and I are afraid of the chance that Nymphadora will miscarry and-"

"Stop." Remus said as loud as he possibly could, the volume of his voice barely louder than a whisper. He had his hands clasped firmly over his ears and he was absolutely sure that his heart had stopped. "I can't-"

"You need to hear what you've helped cause, Remus." Minerva said. There were no traces of pity in her eyes and when she glared at him, Remus winced. "Most of this is your fault. Why don't you go back to her when both of you are clearly hurt by the loss?"

He gave her the same explanation as the one he gave to the Golden Trio, this time not losing his temper because he didn't have the strength. At the end of his speech, he was surprised to see Minerva laugh bitterly and he gave her a questioning glance.

"You have to realize that Nymphadora knew exactly what she was doing when she married you." The professor began, conjuring a glass and filling it with water from the tip of her wand before continuing. "She should probably tell you this herself, but I'm at a loss for anything else to say to you." She took a sip and spoke again. "When Nymphadora completed her auror training, she shadowed Alastor for a year before going solo or taking on a partner. About a quarter of the way through that year, Alastor was called to America by their Ministry of Magic and she was left here on her own. During that time she was called to a home in Glasgow where a child had been mauled by Fenrir Greyback. A little boy. I heard she arrived at the scene to see the child's room covered in blood and promptly fainted."

"This only supports my argument, Minerva! I'm too dangerous-"

"She was shaken by this experience for a while, says Kingsley anyway, who found out that she was losing sleep and wasn't eating much for about a couple of weeks. Alastor was absolutely furious that the Ministry had sent her there without him and almost hexed Fudge himself. Around the time she got over the incident she was invited to join the Order of the Phoenix, where she met you. Nymphadora knew that you were a werewolf before that meeting and she told me that it was 'love at first sight' when she met you. I'd never seen her happier than in the time she spent with you."

"But I won't be able to support her and the child in the future! I haven't a job or much money…"

"Remus, there's a war going on between the light and dark! To tell you the truth, I don't even know if there will be a future for the wizarding world. I have complete faith in Harry but the time he's taking to defeat You-Know-Who is making me a bit nervous. You should spend all the time you have with her in case it happens to run out. The end is coming soon and you shouldn't have any regrets to worry about when you're fighting a life or death battle."

He sat up, with great effort on his part, and turned to place his feet onto the floor. Then, he tried to stand and was about to fall to the floor when Minerva dashed to his side and supported him.

"I have to go to her."

"Finally giving in to reason, are we?" Minerva smiled and pulled a few bottles from the pocket of her robes. "Poppy convinced me to bring these-here you are."

Remus recognized two of the potions in the bottles as a strengthening solution and a pepper-up potion, but the third flask was painted black and he couldn't figure out what potion it contained.

"That is Wolfsbane potion, brewed by your wife." Minerva said quietly. Remus's head snapped up in surprise and he quickly uncorked the bottle to examine the contents inside. "She asked me to give it to you if I saw you. I think she may have suspected that you were hiding here. She also asked me to tell you not to worry, she was quite careful in preparing this potion so you wouldn't be harmed."

"I-" He sat down on the bed once more and rested his head in his hands. "I can't believe I was stupid enough to leave her. I'm an idiot."

"Remus, even without my visit here you would be on your way home soon. I know for certain that you could never leave your wife indefinitely. You tried to do that last year and look where it left you."

"Speaking of your visit, why did you come if you were unsure if I was truly staying here? You could have walked right into a trap by looking for me." Remus had to ask this question before leaving or it would bother him in the future.

"Severus ordered me to come down, actually." Minerva said matter-of-factly. "Your transformation last month scared the living daylights out of the younger students. Some of them are afraid to leave the castle and are getting caught skipping class by the death eaters patrolling the corridors. The Carrows are in charge of all detentions now as well, so after being scared senseless, they're tortured into submission with the Unforgiveable curses. I think Severus was actually worried for their well-being."

"Let me come back up to the castle with you! I can help. We'll get the students out and-"

"And what, Remus? Keep them in rooms above the Hogs Head with Aberforth? You-Know-Who would kill everyone who left anyway. It's best to let Harry find whatever he's looking for before taking action against the Death Eaters."

"You're right." Remus grabbed his travelling cloak from the floor and threw it around his shoulders. "Thank you Minerva, I guess I needed to get some sense knocked into me. I owe you one."

"Don't mention it. Here's the address for Eugene Tonks's house. It is protected under the Fidelius charm." She shoved a piece of paper into his hand, turned on her heel, and walked out the door. "By the way, the death eaters cast a jinx around the village to apprehend anyone who leaves their house past curfew. You may want to apparate from inside."

Remus nodded, even though he realized that she couldn't see him, and looked at the address on the paper before he turned on his heel to disapparate. The village he arrived in was one he recognized to be close to Ottery St. Catchpole, the home of the Weasleys. He roamed the streets for a good half an hour before he found the house-it had sprung up from the ground when he walked past it.

As he entered the yard, he was sure he felt a charm activate that informed the members of the house that he was present. This assumption was correct because upon approaching the front door, he saw it open and a person stepped outside. Their wand was raised and one of their hands was placed protectively over their stomach. Remus had to shake his head furiously and stare again at the porch before realizing that the person was indeed his wife. Her hair was brown and mousy and her figure had become thin and frail. She had become a skeleton of the person she once was.

"Who's there?" She called anxiously. "Dad, is that you?"

"Nym." He was drawn to her and her eyes widened as he approached. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

He reached the porch in a matter of seconds and moved to wrap his arms around her.

SLAP.

Her palm connected with his cheek and he spun backwards, almost losing his balance.

"It can't be you. Please, if you're a death eater just kill me now. Don't make me live through this." It broke his heart to see her like this, so vulnerable and losing her will to fight. The thought that he had caused this sickened him and he brought a hand to his cheek. He had deserved that slap but he wasn't going to give up and leave her. He was done running.

"I am Remus John Lupin, your husband and-" He took a deep breath. "And the father of your child. Ask me anything." His bloodshot eyes connected with her tearstained ones and he could see that she was having trouble finding words. " We were married on July fifteenth by Kingsley Shacklebolt and only my mum and your parents were present. You looked absolutely beautiful and it was the happiest day of my life. August the second was the day I found out you were pregnant and I left. I regret it more than anything I've ever done."

"Why did you go?" She whispered.

"I wanted to give you the chance to be truly happy." He said, running a hand through his hair. What she did next surprised him more than anything.

"Can't you see how fucking _happy_ I've been without you?" She was laughing sarcastically and her voice was beginning to sound hysterical. "It's been bloody brilliant here, cooped up in this house, with my mum and granddad while wondering where the hell you are and if my dad's still alive."

"Nym-" He was trying to explain his encounter with Minerva, but she wouldn't let him.

"Bugger off, Remus." She stepped backwards over the threshold and slammed the door in his face. "I don't want to talk to you."

"Fine. I'll do my explaining through the door, then." The energy required to apparate the long distance from Hogsmeade had drained his strength and he sat down on the front step to catch his breath. "Minerva came to talk to me in the Shrieking Shack, you know. She told me about your first solo case as an auror and… And about when you'd met me. At first, I didn't want to believe that you could have had that kind of experience and then love me unconditionally but I thought about our time together. That look you get in your eyes when we spend even a solitary moment together. I feel it too, the complete bliss."

He cleared his throat and wiped the tears that had begun to run down his cheeks away with his sleeve.

"I love you so much, Nym. It's just, I don't want our child to be a monster like me. When I was younger, after I had been bitten, I promised myself that I would new give myself the chance to harm a child the way Greyback had done so to me . I felt like I was selfish in marrying you and claiming you for my own when you could have lived a much happier and livelier life with someone normal. Someone younger, maybe, with more money and less scars. But I realize how happy you are with me and I'm the exact same way. Please don't shut me out."

The door flew open and suddenly, she was standing in front of him. He got to his feet quickly and stared straight into her eyes before her hand found his own and she placed it on the small bump forming on her stomach-where their baby currently resided. He pulled her into his arms and felt her hot tears stain the front of his shirt.

"I'm not sure if I can forgive you just yet," She began, her voice hoarse. "But I don't want us to fight anymore. I just need to know that you won't leave me again once we've worked everything out."

"Nym, I'm done running." He took a step back, his hand still resting on her stomach and his eyes glued to her own. "I swear to stay true to the vows I made on our wedding day, to stay with you forever-till death do us part. I love you."

She stared at him for the longest time –as if his words were too good to be true and he was frightened out of his wits when she began to cry once more.

"Remus, I in sorry. I know how much courage it takes to say how you truly feel and I respect that you trust me enough to tell me your fears about this relationship. It's just-" Her voice broke and she took a deep breath before continuing. "I don't think I can forgive you as easily this time. You've left me twice now and I don't think I can take much more. Minerva's told me about the possibility of miscarrying-"

"Don't you even think about it." Remus growled as he stepped close to his wife and brought her into his arms. "You don't have anything but the war to worry about anymore. I'm here and ready to take care of you and our baby, whatever it takes. I'm in this for the long run."

"I've missed you." Tonks whispered, her eyes filling with tears once more. "I'm supposed to be an auror Remus, it wasn't actually in my plans to fall in love and get married. I was supposed to live on my own and focus on catching dark wizards. Have I ever told you why I became an auror in the first place?"

She didn't wait for a response and continued her speech.

"Mum wasn't afraid of telling me about what the Black side of our family got up to. I was perfectly aware of their actions as Death Eaters and was told without restraint that my favourite cousin had killed thirteen innocent people. I knew I needed to stop my family from doing all these bad things, that I needed to be the different one, and worked my hardest to become the best auror I could be. There _were_ brief relationships here and there, the most recent one was a year or two before I met you-when I was still in the Academy, but there was never anything that required much commitment. Then I met you and everything changed. I knew right then, as you shook my hand and introduced yourself, that I wanted to be with you. I didn't care about your age, your income, your lycanthropy, or anything! I only cared about loving you and both of us being happy."

"Nym-"

"And then you go and ruin it with your stupid reasons why we shouldn't be together! Isn't love and happiness reason enough to have a relationship? I guess not, since you've left twice already."

"Nym-"

"And then you come back and try to say the same crap as before, that you've always loved me and that you'll never leave again. I've been stupid to even think that this could last-"

His lips claimed her own in a searing kiss and her eyes snapped open in surprise. After a moment, however, they slid shut and she found herself pressed against his chest, her hands wrapped around his neck as his snaked around her waist.

"Dora, are you there? Why's the door open? You know it's not safe for you to be goin' outside, even your mum said so." Suddenly, an old man was standing in the doorway and the couple hastily jumped apart. "Oh no, don't tell me you were just snogging this complete arse! He's left you so many times, this is a stupid move dearie."

"Gramps, we've worked it out." Tonks said. Both men turned to her in surprise and she smiled both of them. "Yes Remus, I forgive you."

"I love you." He whispered, loud enough only for her to hear. "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright." She murmured, grabbing his hand and pulling him to her. "Just-"

Suddenly, her face seemed paler than it had before and her eyes rolled back into her head. Remus caught her as she slumped toward the ground and her granddad rushed forward.

"Dear Merlin, what happened? What do we do?" Remus was frantic and his hand shook as he raised his wand. "Ennervate."

Eugene had read about the spell, one used to revive an unconscious person, in his library and was truly stunned when it didn't work. Remus was even more determined as he cast the spell over and over again, trying to get her to regain consciousness.

"She hasn't eaten in a while and not that much since you left." Eugene muttered, walking alongside his granddaughter's husband as he carried her into the house. "You hurt her bad, boyo. I don't think she should even let you back into her life after all you've-"

"We need to find Andromeda." Remus cut into the conversation and the older man huffed before glancing at a clock in the corner. "What's that? It looks familiar..."

Remus recognized it after a moment of contemplation. It was an enchanted clock whose hands had the names of family members carved upon them, not unlike the one the Weasleys had in their own home. Andromeda's hand was currently pointed to the word 'travelling.'

"Send her a patronus, you dolt!" Eugene said, smacking Remus on the back of the head with his palm. "This is a fucking emergency! My granddaughter's life could be at stake!"

"If she's travelling then it'll be no use!" Remus could tell that he was beginning to sound hysterical and tried to tone down the volume of his voice. He was unsuccessful. "Especially if she's in the floo network or apparating. If she's on foot, it may not be able to find her because it concentrates on one place-"

"Look professor, Dora doesn't have time for your wordy explanations. Find my daughter-in-law before I have to use the bloody floo and do it myself."

"Eugene! Why are you yelling? Is that Remus?"

Remus turned sharply toward the door to see Andromeda standing there, in the process of removing her travelling cloak. It dropped to the floor when she saw the state of her pregnant daughter. Andromeda was at his side in an instant, her wand out. Vials of various potions and herbs floated down the stairs and organized themselves on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

"'Dromeda, great to see you. This nutter showed up and-"

The witch ignored him completely and turned to look up at Remus's face-into his eyes filled with worry and fear.

"I see you've finally come to your senses, Remus. Good to have you back."

"What's wrong with her? I mean, I know she's suffering from lack of nutrients-a lot of them, actually-and that's bad for the baby. Are they going to be alright?" Remus gingerly placed his wife on the couch and ran a hand through his greying hair as Andromeda began to assess her condition. "I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to her or the baby. I love them both so much."

"And that's why you left her, you right idiot." Eugene muttered under his breath. Remus spun around, fatigue and worry forgotten, and strode over to the older man with nothing but fury coursing through his veins.

"You don't understand the circumstances!" Remus growled.

"Then explain, professor." Eugene snarled, turning to face his grandson-in-law. "I would _really_ like to know why you broke Dora's heart."

"I never wanted to hurt her." Remus began, his eyes darting to the floor before meeting Eugene's once more. "But I thought she'd be better off without me here. I wanted to give her a chance to be happy without me, since I'm too old for her-too poor, too dangerous. I'm a werewolf, I was bitten as a child and I transform once a month, and people like me aren't accepted in the magical world. There's legislation against us half-breeds, as we're called by the higher-ups in the ministry, and our child might be one because of me. That's why I left her, I'm afraid of what will happen to her and the child. They don't deserve to be ridiculed because of me."

That shut the older man up instantly. Even Andromeda shot him a glance from her perch on the sofa next to her daughter, but Remus missed it. He was still shooting his grandfather-in-law an angry glare. Andromeda cleared her throat after a moment and both men instantly turned to face her.

"I think I've given he enough potions to revitalize her for a bit so I'll revive he and start on dinner, okay?"

Remus nodded eagerly and moved to his wife's side once more. After another attempt at bringing Tonks back to consciousness, this time it was a success, Andromeda stood and left the room. Eugene snorted and followed her to the kitchen, muttering about 'ungrateful little bastard' and something like 'werewolf bullshit.'

"Don't mind Granddad." Tonks rasped from beside him, smiling when he grasped her hand tightly within his own. "He's kind of offensive when he wants to be. I think you two will get along fine once he sees how amazing you are."

"I'm glad you're alright." Remus sighed, dropping to the floor beside the sofa and sitting Indian-style on the carpet. "I've been worried sick this entire time and I thought I'd lost you. Your mum's making dinner and you need to eat."

"I'll be just fine now." Tonks pulled herself into a sitting position and tugged him up onto the couch. "Hold me?"

"Gladly." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap. "I love you."

"Ditto." Tonks smirked when he shot her an amused look and pecked him on the cheek before snuggling closer to him and closing her eyes. Within moments, dinner was forgotten and the two of them were sleeping peacefully on the couch.

**I don't care if this seemed a bit OC, Remus deserves to be happy too! And they needed to reunite. I wasn't going to take any more of this wallowing in misery bull crap. It should get more interesting from here too, seeing as they're together and everything's alright. Something exciting is bound to happen. Or maybe the next chapter will just be fluffy bliss.**

**Please Review! It can be your... holiday (yay non offensive) gift to me :D**

**Or not, I'm cool either way (don't want to seem desperate :S )**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey FF... I'm so sorry. I had to put the schoolwork and music before my writing (if I wanted to stay as moderately sane as I am right now) and this is the first time I've actually had time to write in the past month or two (except for editing the first four chapters... that took about a half an hour on my one free day. Wow... this is a lot of parentheses.). I took a sick day today, so hopefully there will be more than one chapter. If not... Well, I'm sorry again to disappoint.**

**I also went to France last week and had no computer access (excuses, excuses) but it was an amazing trip. I think my sickness today is separation anxiety from the country...**

**I'm going to update more often. Weekly, I suppose... right.**

**Responding To Analie209- You're absolutely right, I have no idea why I made Muriel so freaking nice! I went back, read it, and immediately changed it. I hope it's better now :D . Also, I went back and added a bit of info to the Sectumsempra thing-it was the first spell that popped into my head and I guess it makes sense now. Meh, it's fanfiction. Let's go with it and see where the plot takes us...**

**Thank you to all who reviewed, I really mean it-you guys made my day :D, and I hope that you all like this new chapter!**

* * *

It was late October when things finally returned to normal. Well, as normal as living in the Tonks household during a major wizarding war could be.

Tonks was gradually gaining back the weight she had lost as a result of Remus's absence, but most of the contents of her stomach found their way into the toilet because of her horrible morning sickness. On top of that, Remus had transformed twice in the little over a month since his return and there had been no word at all from Ted since he fled the house. However, the couple was quickly working through their problems and were on the fast track back to happiness.

One day, Andromeda, after having her weekly cup of tea with Molly Weasley, found her way into the study where Remus and Eugene were battling through a game of chess. She and Molly had discussed something that would raise both their families' spirits in this dark time, a party of sorts, but she thought it would be a good idea to run it by Remus first. When she walked through the doorway, however, she became instantly mesmerized by the pair's intricate game. The chess set was clearly a wizard one, something that Eugene surely was not familiar with, but each of the men were holding their own in the battle toward victory. They had not even noticed her walk in and she sighed quietly before speaking.

"Remus?" The sound of her voice jolted him back into reality and he leaned back from the chessboard to look at her. "Could I have a word-"

"What's wrong? Is it Nymphadora?" He was out of his chair and at her side in an instant, ready to bolt out the door and to his wife's aid. Eugene snorted loudly and took a sip from his glass of brandy.

"She's fine, Professor. You need to stop being so paranoid, that's why you keep losing." Andromeda chuckled at the shocked expression on her son-in-law's face and rolled her eyes at the older man. "Make it quick, 'Dromeda. We've got a game to finish."

Eugene settled back into his plush leather armchair and closed his eyes, as if he were deep in thought, but Remus knew better and saw that he was dozing off. Andromeda sighed and began to speak quietly to him.

"Molly and I were talking about having a get-together on Saturday for Halloween," she began, her unsteady tone becoming more stable as she saw Remus begin to smile. "It would be a great surprise for Dora and we wouldn't have to apparate because they live half an hour down the road by car."

"That sounds-"

"Like a horrible idea!" Remus did not even get to finish his thought before Eugene's eyes snapped open and he sprang to his feet. "I'm not going to stand by and do nothing while you put my granddaughter and great-grandchild in danger for some stupid party! It's absolutely absurd!"

"Eugene," Remus began, forcing his voice to become extremely calm as he saw Andromeda's face fall next to him. "Nymphadora is getting a bit restless being cooped up in the house day after day. It would do her good to have a few hours out with friends."

"You're forgetting that the Ministry of Magic's after the lot of you and there are Death Eaters watching the house." Eugene countered, causing Andromeda's once-happy expression to droop even more. Remus frowned angrily.

"And you're forgetting that Nymphadora is a metamorphmagus and we can use magic. We'll place glamours and disillusionment charms on ourselves if we have to." Remus eyed the old man for a second before lowering his voice to a more respectful tone. "I don't want to put my wife's life in jeopardy, Eugene. However, I think that this outing will help her take her mind off the war for a while. It'll be good for all of us to get out and have a bit of fun."

"Don't expect me to come with you." His voice was cold as he grabbed his glass of brandy from the side table and downed it in one gulp. Andromeda's eyes widened as Eugene's face turned beet red and he spluttered madly. Remus was at his side in an instant, pounding on his back, and after a few moments of coughing Eugene could finally speak again. "Dear God, remind me never to do that again. It added a bit of flare to the delivery but in the long run-"

He coughed once more, the grin on his face becoming harder to conceal by the second, and then burst out into laughter completely. Remus and Andromeda's flabbergasted expressions were fuel for his giddy state and he roared uncontrollably, his face turning a light shade of purple.

"Eugene?" Andromeda asked quietly, her shocked expression betraying the calm apparent in her tone. "Are you alright?"

"Fine and dandy, dearie. Nothing like a good bout of laughter to help get your priorities straight." Eugene finally stopped laughing, but the amused twinkle remained in his eye. " A bit of liquor once in a while helps as well. I've been as stressed out as the three of you, you know. I worry all the time about this bloody war and I can barely sleep at night knowing that my son might be-" He cleared his throat and grimaced when he saw the pained look in Andromeda's eyes. "Anyway, it's good to let it all out. Now I know how you felt, Remus, when you told that Potter kid to shove-"

"Do you want to come to the party, Eugene?" Andromeda asked, interrupting him when she saw an anguished expression on Remus's face at the words. She knew instantly that she'd have to ask him about it later, or get her daughter to instead.

"I'd be delighted." Eugene beamed at her, completely ignoring Remus's distress, and made his way toward the door. "I'm going to have a lie down, this was a bit too much for an old man to handle in one day. Can we finish our game later, Remus?"

"Of course." The younger man's reply was quiet and pained but Eugene ignored it and strolled out of the room, whistling cheerfully.

"Remus, what's-"

"I forgot about when I visited Grimmauld Place." Remus murmured, his brows knitting in frustration. "We talked about it the week I arrived here, me and Eugene, but I completely disregarded it after that. I was a complete arse to Harry, Ron, and Hermione and I might never get the chance to apologize. In these times-I just-I don't want that to be the last thing I say to them."

"You were distressed, overtired, malnourished-"

"Those are unacceptable excuses." Remus snarled furiously, causing Andromeda to take a step away from him. He caught his temper quickly and put his face in his hands in anguish. "I hit Harry."

"What?" Andromeda was stunned. Remus did not have to look at her face to see the disappointed expression he knew was present upon it.

"Not physically, I hit him in the face with a curse, sent him flying into a stone wall, and probably broke his nose. My best friend's son..." Remus ran his hands through his hair in dismay, something that he had been doing a lot over the past few months, and fell back into one of the brown leather armchairs for support.

"Start from the beginning." A voice called from the doorway. Remus's head jerked up in surprise when he recognized the voice and his face paled when he realized who it was.

"Nym-"

"Remus, I don't care that you haven't mentioned this before but you need to get it off your chest." Tonks sighed, walking over to stand in front of her husband and resting her hands on his cheeks. Their eyes met and he was instantly comforted by the calm and comfort he found in that connection. "Talk to me."

Neither of them noticed Andromeda leave the room and close the door behind her. After a moment of silence Remus sighed and pulled his wife into his arms, needing to be comforted by her presence and patient understanding.

"I want to apologize in advance." He said as she shifted into a more comfortable position on his lap. "I wasn't thinking straight and-I said many things that I regret."

And with that he told her of the gruesome details from the trip to Grimmauld place. A few times throughout the tale, she frowned sadly-like when he said that he would be willing to abandon her at her parents' house to go traipsing off with the Golden Trio, but for the most part kept herself calm and collected.

"Harry told me that I wanted to come with them for the thrill-that I wanted to step into Sirius's shoes for once," Remus said as he began to bring the story to a close. "But I made it perfectly clear that me being a werewolf put you and our child in danger. He called me a coward for thinking that way and something inside me snapped. It all happened so fast-one minute he was fine and the next he was on the floor, covered in blood. A part of me was actually _satisfied_ by this, too." He couldn't even look at his wife after saying this and kept his gaze fixed on the dwindling fire. "That's when I stormed out and went to the Shrieking Shack."

The room was filled with an unnerving silence for a moment before Tonks began to speak.

"Remus, I have to admit that hexing Harry was a lapse in judgement on your part." She began, her hands moving back to his face to bring his eyes back to hers. "But he'll forgive you like I did."

"I'm a horrible friend," Remus said as he let out a deep sigh. "And husband, too. Good husbands aren't supposed to leave their pregnant wives and good friends aren't supposed to curse each others' sons when they get angry."

"Stop." She pulled his lips to meet her own in a passionate kiss that shut him up immediately. "You're overreacting. You know as well as I do that Harry's had his fair share of temper tantrums as well, and we've never held those against him."

"But-"

"No buts, Remus. Now come on, Minerva and Poppy said they'd be by today to run some more tests and I'd like you to be there." Tonks slid from his lap, grinning broadly, and held her hand out to him. He gave her a small smile and took it gratefully before being led from the room.

"Dora, we have guests." Eugene called from the den, just as Tonks and Remus were making their way down the stairs. "And the living room is in need of a good cleaning charm. There's soot everywhere from the damn floo-"

"Don't be disrespectful. Minerva and Poppy went to great trouble to hide their floo activity from the Ministry-"

"I know, 'Dromeda!" He made his voice higher, as if mocking his daughter-in-law. "Respect the professors, Eugene, they're looking after Dora and the baby. While you're at it just zip your mouth shut and hide in your room till they're gone, we wouldn't want anyone to be _offended_, do we? God, everyone's so uptight in this bloody house!"

"Eugene! Don't think you're not getting a smack for that." Eugene scurried up the stairs past the young couple, stopped to flash them a wide grin, then continued toward his bedroom before Andromeda could catch up with him.

"Whenever you're ready, dear." Andromeda had given chase and called out to them as she ran past. "Minerva and Poppy are in the den."

"Thanks mum." Tonks called cheerfully to her retreating back, which earned her a wave in response. "Let's go then, wouldn't want to miss my check-up."

The pair walked hand-in-hand into the den to meet their guests and when they entered, Poppy gave them a cheerful wave. Minerva, however, walked straight over to Remus and slapped him in the face.

"What was that for?" He asked indignantly, gingerly rubbing the red hand-shaped welt on his cheek.

"You looked too helpless when I found you in Hogsmeade and I couldn't bring myself to smack you, even if you deserved it." Minerva said calmly. Tonks laughed and Remus turned toward her, still rubbing his cheek, to grimace painfully at her.

"Man up, sweetheart. She didn't even hit you that hard!" Tonks said, rolling her eyes and pecking him quickly on his injured cheek. "There we are, good as new."

"Shall we?" Poppy interjected, gesturing toward the couch. Tonks made her way over and laid down, pulling Remus behind her. He stood awkwardly at the end of the couch near her head before conjuring a chair and waiting for the check-up to begin.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Tonks asked, her voice riddled with anxiety. Remus smiled at her before speaking.

"You'll find out soon enough."

It was finally Saturday, October 31 and the entire household piled into one of Eugene's many cars to travel to the Weasley's party. Tonks was the only one who was not aware of what they had planned and was extremely worried that they'd been discovered or something else bad had happened. Andromeda quickly cast a strong disillusionment charm on the car, that Remus had to take over halfway, and they were off.

About five minutes away from the Weasley home, Tonks finally realized what was going on and grinned broadly.

"I forgot it was Halloween! Blimey, you guys got me." They pulled onto the front lawn of the Burrow and Remus dropped the concealment spell with a weak flick of his wand. It took a lot of effort to hide something as big as a car for as long as he did and was thankful that Andromeda was willing to split the work to do so.

"Who's there?" A group of red-headed witches and wizards, presumably the Weasley family, sprinted onto the lawn from the house with their wands raised. Upon seeing that they were indeed the Tonks family, and the Lupins of course, everyone but Mr Weasley lowered his or her wand.

"Andromeda," He walked hesitantly up to the woman in question, his wand still pointed directly over her heart, and prepared to ask a question. "Who was with Harry when he crash landed on your lawn after the Battle for Little Whinging and what time did they apparate here?"

"Hagrid was Harry's escort from the Dursleys," Andromeda began. "But they took a portkey from my living room, barely made it too, and they were with you after that."

"Good to see you." Arthur pocketed his wand and grinned at her before turning to the rest of the group and acknowledging them as well.

"This Ted's father, Eugene. We've been staying at his house since August." Andromeda explained, as her father-in-law gave an over-exaggerated bow.

"Wotcher, all!" He said, giving the Weasley family one of his 'charming' smiles, as he called them. "I've heard a great deal about you lot. Especially the twins over there."

He raised a questioning eyebrow at the boys, who laughed loudly and wholeheartedly at the comment.

"Hello, Arthur." Remus interjected into the growing conversation, before shaking the other man's hand and smiling broadly. "How are you? Any word from-?"

Arthur's grin melted from his face and Remus immediately regretted saying anything at all. Tonks tightened her grip on his hand in a reassuring gesture and he gave her a small, pained smile.

"Let's head inside," Molly broke the silence with her cheery exclamation. "Remus and Arthur can have a chat while we fuss over Tonks and the baby!"

"You're pregnant?" Fred, George, Bill, and Charlie exclaimed at once. Fleur, who was standing at her husband's side, rolled her eyes and smiled knowingly at the older woman.

"Of course I am, you dolt! I already look like a bloody elephant! Only the four of you twats, Ron and Harry as well I suppose, wouldn't realize that I'm already three months along!" Tonks smacked each of them on the arm in turn while Molly, Fleur, and Andromeda laughed. Then, she gave Remus a worried glance before smiling once more and following the rest of the family into the house.

"I've had to leave the Ministry for good, Remus." Arthur started abruptly and the younger man was taken aback.

"What? Why in Merlin's name would you do that? You, Tonks, and Kingsley are our only ones on the inside-"

"Are you getting _The Prophet_ at Eugene's house?" He asked, frowning when Remus shook his head. "Then you wouldn't know that Harry, Ron, and Hermione made a foolish attempt at breaking into the Ministry in September. They think I had something to do with their plans and tried to take me to Azkaban for questioning."

"You're kidding!"Remus collapsed onto a bench outside the front door and ran a hand through his greying hair. "It must have been after I visited them at Grimmauld Place! Damn it, Arthur, if I'd had even the slightest idea they would-"

"It's not your fault." Arthur interrupted immediately. "And even if you'd known, you never would have been able to stop them. They're on a mission for Dumbledore, and they're all determined to do whatever it takes to complete it."

"I wish they would have chosen to confide in the Order what the mission was." Remus muttered. "Then we wouldn't have to worry about them as much." Arthur opened his mouth to respond but Remus held up a hand to stop him. "I know that Dumbledore wanted this mission to remain confidential, but they're barely even adults! He should have let one of us guide them, or help them, or _something_! Then we could have gotten rid of You-Know-Who as quickly as possible and they could go back to Hogwarts and finish their education."

"Speaking of Hogwarts, have you heard any news from the castle? Molly told us that Minerva and Poppy are taking care of Tonks's prenatal care and we haven't heard much from Ginny." Arthur's facial expression darkened. "I'm worried about her, Remus. We're going to have to pull her out of school at the Christmas Holidays because of how dangerous it's gotten. I'm afraid that they'll try to question her for my whereabouts-"

"But they know where the Burrow is, don't they?" Remus interjected. "The Ministry can find you themselves!"

"No, we're under a Fidelius Charm and considerable amounts of warding. Some of them are even sealed with blood magic." Arthur replied.

"I haven't heard anything about the castle since near the end of September." Remus replied. "Minerva said that Amycus and Alecto Carrow are in charge of detentions now-for every teacher."

"Merlin," Arthur took a seat next to him on the bench and Remus could see his hands shaking in anger. "We may have to get Ginny out of there even earlier. I don't want to lose her, Remus, she's my only daughter."

"She'll be alright." Remus assured him confidently. "She's a Weasley, and Weasleys always pull through."

"Thank you." Arthur said after a moment of silence. "Now we should probably go inside and join the festivities. Who knows what they're getting up to in there?"

Suddenly, they heard a shriek from inside and Fred and George's hysterical laughter.

"EUGENE! Put that down this instant!"

"But 'Dromeda! These canary creams are a real laugh! Maybe just a few more..."

"Don't you dare-"

Suddenly a loud chirping noise, sounding like birdsong, filled the air and the laughter from inside grew louder. Arthur and Remus exchanged a glance before bursting into laughter themselves and making their way into the house.

**So, did you like it? Was it worth the wait? Please Review! Even though I don't really deserve them after my month without updates... Who am I kidding, reviews are like crack! **

**Please Review...pretty please? With sugar and candy and... things on top? Je ne sais pas...**


	6. Chapter 6

**I've had the busiest month and a half EVER. EVER EVER EVER EVER ****EVER****. I'm so sorry for not updating, but I wasn't going to post something under 1000 words or give you the crappiest thing I've ever written. This has been in the works for a while, and I hope you like it :D**

**Also, I know I haven't had any complaints about this yet but I'll address it now. Until the final battle, I'm only writing about major events-not all the weirdo stuff in between like "Remus brushed his teeth on November second at seven thirty in the morning with a red shiny toothbrush while Tonks was in the shower." That's creepy and unnecessary. When we get to the final battle, stuff's going to slow down a little bit because I've got BIG PLANS for what's changing. I think you're going to be surprised...!**

**-Em**

**EDIT!- Holy crap, I can't believe I made that mistake. Thank you, wonderful reviewer (whose name I forgot to copy and paste before I came to edit this... darn it. You'll get a chapter dedication) for slapping me and telling me that Norberta is a NORWEGIAN RIDGEBACK and not a Hungarian Horntail.**

**I was watching the fourth movie (on my marathon though all of them before I saw the last of them at midnight) while I was typing this and I guess my subconsious likes Hungarian Horntails. Merci...**

"So, do you know if it's a boy, or a girl?" Charlie asked, resting his hand on the bump where the baby was growing. "Or is it too soon to tell?"

"Remus and I want it to be a surprise," Tonks said happily, glancing over at her husband-who was deep in conversation with Molly. Upon hearing his name, he turned to her and gave her a broad smile. "But Poppy asked us yesterday, as a matter of fact."

"But Tonks," Fred, or was it George, whined loudly. "How will we know if the tyke is-"

"A rambunctious baby boy-" The other twin interrupted.

"Or a darling little girl?" The first finished. Then in unison, they spoke once more.

"We're dying to find out!"

"Either way, I'm sure the baby will love Weasley's Wizard Wheezes all the same." Remus piped up from across the room. "If his grandfather has any say in it, anyway."

The group turned toward the man in question, who was fiddling with a Reusable Hangman while Crookshanks batted at an extendable ear at his feet.

"Wait, is that Hermione's cat?" Tonks asked. It was Arthur who answered, because Molly had suddenly gone very quiet.

"She asked us to take care of him while they're on their mission." He said quietly. "And to make sure he has a home in case-" His voice broke. "In case they don't make it."

"You don't have to worry about that." Remus said loudly, breaking the tension and causing half the occupants of the room to jump in surprise. " They've got a plan- Dumbledore gave them a few things to go on and told Harry what to do. I'm sure wherever they are, they're going strong and trying to kill V-" Molly clamped her hand over his mouth just in time, she had been anticipating what he would say, and Remus bit back the word before speaking once more in a venomous tone. "You-Know-Who, then. This stupid taboo's killing me. Albus taught all of the Order not to be afraid of a name and look what's come of it!"

"I hear that," Bill raised his glass in agreement and tightened his other arm around his wife's shoulders. "Everything that kept us strong is slowly deteriorating. Dumbledore's dead, saying You-Know-Who's name is signing a deal with the Grim Reaper, Harry-"

His face paled as he realized what word had slipped from his lips and covered the awkward moment by clearing his throat and taking a large gulp from his goblet of mulled mead.

"So, have you thought of any names yet?" Charlie asked loudly. Molly instantly cheered up and began bombarding the pregnant woman with loads of questions about the baby. Bill let out a relieved sigh and sent a grateful glance toward his brother, who smiled in return.

"Oh, Remus! I almost forgot-can I have a word with you in the kitchen for a moment?" Bill piped up. Remus nodded and set his glass down on the coffee table before following him.

"What-"

"We're thinking about starting a radio station, the Order I mean, to keep everyone up to date with the real information during the war." Bill said quickly, his eyes darting out toward the living room to make sure no one was listening to them. "Mum and dad don't know, Mum'd kill us if she did and dad wouldn't be able to stop her, but I feel like we should be doing more since we can't go to the Ministry and spy for information."

"What do you want me to do?" Remus asked questioningly. "This sounds like a pretty good idea, but you'd need some way to keep You-Know-Who's supporters from listening. You should also think about ways to conceal the identities of the people broadcasting-a lot of Death Eaters and their children know the Weasley family and most of the Order from the Ministry or Hogwarts and they'd recognize you in an instant."

"Fred and George are working on ways to change our voices for short periods of time, but we were just going to go with codenames." Bill said, shrugging his shoulders. "We wanted you to help us with the security charm. It's a good idea to have a password for the station that changes every time we broadcast."

"That sounds difficult." Remus ran a hand through his greying hair and sighed. "What were you thinking, a spoken password? A specific wand movement?"

"Do you know that Muggle technology, what was it... the telemagraph? We wanted to use an idea sort of like that to create a password that is actually a word that people would tap onto the radio to listen in. I actually considered the wand motion idea for a bit, but it would be difficult to explain without being able to show people."

"You want to use a telegraph idea for your password?" Remus asked, his eyebrows raising in surprise. "That seems like something your father would think up."

"It was Dedalus's idea, actually. His aunt was a Muggle."

"It'll be difficult to figure out and it might not be ready for a month or two, but I think I can help you." Remus said with a smile.

"Fantastic!"

The pair walked back into the room to rejoin the party and found everyone crowded around Tonks. Charlie had his hand pressed against her baby bump, a smile forming on his face, and Tonks looked absolutely radiant.

"Remus!" He was at her side in an instant, his hand taking Charlie's place, and his stomach dropped when he felt something move beneath his fingertips. "It's kind of early, I'm only thirteen-ish weeks along and Poppy said we wouldn't be able to feel the baby move until at least 16-20 weeks-"

Her words caught in her throat when he looked up at her with tears in his eyes.

"I love you." His voice was hoarse and she felt the need to throw her arms around him and never let go. Unfortunately, the romantic moment was ruined when instead she practically hurtled herself off the couch and tackled him to the floor.

"Are you alright?" Tonks opened her eyes to see Remus's face inches away from her own and burst out laughing at the look of concern he gave her.

"I'm sorry! You look so worried and-you-I'm bloody enormous and I just jumped on you! It's you we should be worried about."

Remus stared at her for a moment with a befuddled look on his face before he raised a hand to caress her cheek and brushed his lips against her own.

"You have to admit, they're both terribly adorable." Molly piped up from the corner of the room, earning a smile from Andromeda and Eugene, causing the two to separate and heave themselves off the floor.

"Remus!" He lifted her into his arms bridal-style and grinned broadly at how her face flushed beet red. "Put me down!"

"And risk you knocking me down again? No chance, sweetheart." He rocked her in his arms for a moment with a goofy grin on his face before plopping her down on the couch and taking a seat beside her. "So-"

"FRED! GEORGE! GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!" Molly shrieked, her voice sounding incredibly high-pitched and her height shrinking drastically by the second. Apparently the forest green colored cake she had been munching on a second before was one of Fred and George's new "Irish Up Your Life Cakes-Dancing a Jig is Only a Bite Away!".

"And that's our cue," Fred began, bending over in a slight bow.

"To bid you adieu!" George finished, flourishing his hand in a grand wave before sprinting up the stairs behind his brother to seek sanctuary in their room.

Eugene, who had been spending time with the twins and learning about their various joke products, was laughing hysterically and clapping along to Molly's hearty jig on top the coffee table.

"Arthur! Do something!" Molly squeaked. Her husband sighed, pulled her off the table, performed the countercurse to return her to normal, and bolted up the stairs behind the twins to give them a good 'scolding.' Molly followed quickly on his heels, knowing that Arthur was not as harsh as she was with his punishments, leaving all of the guests alone with Bill, Fleur, and Charlie.

"Those boys are absolutely insane." Remus exclaimed with a broad smile, tightening his arm around his wife's shoulders as she leaned into his shoulder. "I don't know how your poor mother has been coping with them for all these years!"

"It's certainly been difficult," Bill admitted. "But I think she's become accustomed to all the commotion around the house. With all of us gone, it gets really quiet and I think she gets lonely. It helped a little that dad had to stop going to work and Charlie moved back home for the time being."

"I forgot to ask you, how's everything been going in Romania?" Tonks turned the conversation to Charlie, who smiled and began to speak.

"We've been working with Norberta's babies, Norberta being the dragon that Harry, Ron, and Hermione sent us from Hagrid in their first year, and currently there's about ten dragons on the reserve. Norberta-a Norwegian Ridgeback, a Chinese fireball named Edmund, four of Norberta's Norwegian Ridgeback/Chinese fireball hybrid babies, three Welsh Greens, and one whose species we haven't even identified yet! It's exciting and I wish I could be back there sooner to offer my assistance in classifying its breed, but You-Know-Who's closed all Wizarding methods of travel in and out of Britain."

"Can't you get to Romania the Muggle way?" Remus asked. Charlie shook his head and frowned.

"You need to floo or apparate onto the ranch, it's safer that way so Muggles don't find it, but there's no way to do that from here. Also, You-Know-Who has Death Eaters monitoring all exits out of the country, even the Muggle ones, because that's how Muggle-borns are escaping being registered by the Ministry. We're trapped here like caged animals until Harry can find a way to kill him... _If _he can find a way, that is."

"He will Charlie, have a little faith in the kid." Tonks reached over and smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "He's only seventeen. If my memory is correct, all you could do at seventeen was play quidditch and obsess about dragons-both of those things you still do with a passion."

"Hey!" Charlie said, his face tinged red from his embarrassment. "Whenever we talked when _you_ were seventeen, you couldn't stop giggling! I think you had a bit of a crush on me."

"Not likely," Tonks smirked, his statement having no effect on her. "Because I was too focused on becoming an auror to even think about crushing on teenage boys."

"Yeah right _Nymphadora_, but you weren't distracted when we snogged behind the greenhouses-"

Bill cleared his throat loudly and Tonks and Charlie jumped in surprise. Remus looked incredibly relieved.

"Molly, maybe using a sticking charm on them, fixing them to the ceiling, and taking their wands away was a bit harsh-"

"They turned me into a leprechaun, Arthur! Their own mother!"

"Hello Molly, Arthur, I hope you got everything sorted." Eugene said, chuckling, from the corner of the room. That earned him a glare from Molly and a wink from her husband.

"Well, it's getting late.." Remus saw Tonks trying to hide a yawn behind her hand and spoke up before she could protest.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay the night?" Molly offered, glancing at the clock on the wall across the room. "It's already eleven o'clock and you have to drive with a concealment charm-it would make me feel better if you waited until morning when the visibility is better."

"I think we're going to have to pass Molly, but thank you for the offer." Eugene said. "All of my pills are at the house and if I don't take them before I go to sleep-"

Andromeda shuddered from her seat in the corner, she had jolted awake from her nap when Molly and Arthur re-entered the room, and nodded in agreement.

"I wouldn't want to have to magically resuscitate him again, that scared the hell out of me."

"Thank you for inviting us over, Molly." Remus said as the Tonks and Lupin families hugged and handshake-d their way around the room.

"You're always welcome here, Remus, all of you. You know that." Molly gave him another hug, just for the hell of it, before they all walked outside and got into the car.

* * *

November came and went in a blur of busied activity. Andromeda and Molly had basically bypassed all other responsibilities to prepare for the biggest Christmas party either family had ever seen, Eugene attempted to teach Remus how to drive (which was a difficult feat with disastrous results), and Tonks's baby bump gradually grew larger and more noticeable.

The day before Christmas Eve, Molly and Andromeda finally unveiled some of their master plan.

"We're having the Christmas party here!" Andromeda exclaimed as a squeal of excitement erupted from Molly, who was standing beside her with a smile on her face. Eugene looked furious.

"Now listen here, Missy-" He tried to protest, but Andromeda put up her hand to stop him.

"Oh stuff it Eugene, and have some fun!" She said, effectively putting a stop to his objections as he fell back into his armchair and sighed in defeat. "You _like_ the Weasleys, remember?"

"Of course I do! I just have a problem with people poking 'round in my things and inviting strangers into my home without my permission!" Eugene took a sip from the glass of brandy he always seemed to have on the end table beside him. "I guess you've made up your mind without asking-"

"Well, I would like to thank you for letting us enjoy your wonderful home for our party." Molly walked over and pecked him on the cheek, causing him to blush and splutter on his brandy.

Suddenly, a multitude of loud popping noises filled the air. Remus sprinted down the stairs-his hair sticking out in many odd directions, lipstick stains present on the corners of his mouth, and his tie askew-with his wand raised. After a moment of complete silence, he decided to move carefully toward the door.

"Tonks? Remus! Andromeda! Is Mum still there? Oh Merlin-" Remus recognized Charlie's voice coming from the other side of the door and threw it open to see the younger man collapse on the doorstep, blood seeping from long gashes on his chest and forehead. Arthur was swaying behind him, his leg bent at an awkward angle, and Remus ran out to grab him before he hit the ground.

"Charlie? What happened?" Molly had scurried as fast as her legs would take her toward her son's pain-filled groans before letting out a shriek and falling to his side. "Charlie, my baby! And Arthur! Are you alright? What in the-"

"Death eaters," Arthur spat, blood from his mouth splattering all over the front walk. "They broke through the wards on the Burrow thinking that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had come home for Christmas holidays. Fortunately, they haven't shown up 'round the house but we couldn't make it out of there without fighting a bit. Charlie's hurt worse than I am-Bellatrix got to him before me, but I'm pretty sure Rodolphus Lestrange had a bit of fun breaking my leg with his bare hands."

"Oh Arthur," Molly was sobbing now, unable to keep the tears at bay any longer, and she threw her arms around her husband's neck for a reassuring hug. Remus sat the older man gingerly on the ground and began to heal his leg.

"Accio Skele-Grow." He muttered, forcing a dose of the horrid green liquid down Arthur's throat before continuing to mend the bone. Andromeda was leaning over Charlie, patching up the nasty cuts that were present all over his face and torso, before summoning a bottle of blood replenishing potion herself.

"Will he be alright?" Tonks was standing in the doorway of the house, her face white as a sheet and both hands clasped tightly above her stomach, and she sounded terrified. Remus finished cleaning and mending Arthur's wounds and, after Arthur had reassured him multiple times that he would be alright, he moved to bring his wife into his arms.

"He's going to be just fine." Andromeda murmured as she pressed the tip of her wand into Charlie's arm and magically injected the blood replenishing potion into his veins. "But he'll be unconscious for a while. My dear sister seems to have used a few of the dirtier spells in her arsenal on him and I don't know how long he'll take to recover."

"Molly, it's alright." Arthur was rocking his wife in his arms, cooing gentle words into her hair as she cried into his bloodstained sweater and trying not to shed more than a few tears himself. "At least it was only us in the house. Fred and George went back to their flat above the shop last night and Bill and Fleur went home this morning. This wasn't that bad-"

"Of course it was!" Molly cried, sniffling as she used her sleeve to wipe her nose. Remus offered her a monogrammed handkerchief from his pocket, which she gladly accepted. "You were both hurt and that makes it bad!"

"Come on, all of you," Eugene called from inside the living room. "You need to come inside before you all catch cold! Look, it's beginning to snow."

Tonks looked up at the dark clouds covering the sky to see tiny white specks floating down from the heavens. One of them landed on her cheek and melted, blending in with the teardrops that were present there.

When she looked back down, she saw her mother levitating Charlie into the house and up the stairs, and Molly helping Arthur limp toward the couch in the living room. Remus brought his hand to rest under her chin and lifted it with a finger so their eyes met.

"You've got lipstick on your face." Tonks stated, a small smile gracing her lips. Remus blushed, raised a finger to the spot in question, and raised his eyebrows when it came away covered in pink.

"I guess I do." He licked his thumb and used it to wipe the rest of the lipstick from his cheek. Once she realized that he was failing miserably, Tonks did the same and removed the spot for him with her own finger. Then, she flattened his hair down with her fingertips and straightened his tie.

"I hate this," Tonks admitted quietly, averting her eyes from his and resting them on Molly and Arthur, who were lounging on the sofa. Once in a while, Arthur would wince slightly in pain and Molly would tip more painkiller potion in his mouth with a grim expression on her face. Charlie and Andromeda were nowhere to be found, but Tonks knew that her mother was settling him down in one of the guest bedrooms so he could heal. "I hate that everyone keeps fighting and getting hurt all because of one stupid man. I wish it would all end already so our lives can get back to normal."

"Don't we all?"

**Yeah... So, how do you like it? Tell me in a review! You can even include your favourite Harry Potter pick-up line in there too, if you want! Those crack me up :D**

**Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm sorry for the scattered updates. My drum corps just won a competition in Massachusetts this past weekend and we had a 7 and a half hour-ish bus ride each way to get there. I also took a course last week that gave me credit for a class and freed up my schedule. Sorry for the excuses, but I'm trying the best that I can to update…**

Did you know that Tonks's middle name is apparently Vulpecula? I didn't know that! That's what ChaCha told me (chacha is hilarious, ask it anything) so…?

**This chapter surprised me as I was writing it. Yeah, I know "it came from **_**your**_** head Em, so how could it surprise you?" Well, the story took a turn that I never expected to write and I don't know if I'm happy with it. Anyway, it's going to be an exciting chapter filled with lots of surprises!**

**Sorry about the long A/N, but this chapter's a biggun (yes, that is an illegitimate word) with a whole lot of action.**

**This one's dedicated to LittleGreenFae. Thanks for pointing out my mistake (which I encourage everyone to do) and helping make my story better . **

Unfortunately, Molly and Andromeda's plans for Christmas had been ruined. Fred and George sent word through patronus, after hearing news about the attack on the Burrow, that Death Eaters had surrounded the shop and they were unable to leave. Bill wanted to come over the second he found out but Molly and Arthur forbade him from doing so-saying that the location of the safe house at Shell Cottage would be in jeopardy. And Charlie… well, he was still out cold.

After dinner on Christmas eve which was a somber occasion, not only because only seven of the thirteen people who were supposed to attend were actually there, but Eugene was in a terrible mood throughout the entire meal. Molly and Arthur left just after they finished eating to check on Charlie and the Tonks, and Lupins, were left alone in the dining room.

"What's happening with you?" Andromeda finally threw her napkin down on the table and called him out for his behaviour. "You're being incredibly rude in front of our guests, more rude than you usually are anyway, and it's absolutely disgraceful!"

Eugene cleared his throat angrily, downed his glass of after-dinner port, and fixed a grim expression on his face.

"I have an announcement to make." He stood up. "I'm leaving the country. And I think it would be best if Nymphadora came with me."

"Didn't you hear what Charlie said at Halloween?" Tonks sounded absolutely outraged. Remus placed his hand on the small of her back in a reassuring gesture, but he was having trouble containing his own anger. "There's no way for witches and wizards to get out of the country! You-Know-Who's men, the Death Eaters, are monitoring every exit and capturing anyone who tries to leave."

"You're a meta-mato-morphy thing, aren't you? You can just disguise yourself until we get out-"

"She's not a _thing_," Remus growled. "And the Death Eaters probably put up enchantments to detect all magical people and keep them inside the country, even if they try to disguise themselves."

"We'll find a way." Eugene retorted, crossing his arms in a stubborn gesture.

"You'll do no such thing!" Andromeda cut in.

"I'm not leaving, Gramps. Not when my friends are in danger." Tonks felt Remus's hand rubbing soothing circles on her back and tried to channel his carefully maintained calm. It didn't work. "And I'm certainly not leaving my family here with You-Know-Who still at large! That's outrageous!"

"What about the baby's safety?" Eugene asked. "It's not just you anymore! You can't go out and fight or even apparate to safety anymore because you have to keep the child safe. It would be better if you just-"

"Trying to escape would put my wife and our child in unnecessary danger." Remus interrupted coldly. Andromeda and Tonks turned their heads to look at him, surprised. Neither of them had ever heard him sound that angry. "And if she was caught by Death Eaters, she would either be thrown in Azkaban or tortured for information about Harry and then killed. I can't stand by and let you put my wife in a situation where either of those things could be the outcome."

"What, are you saying that she'd be safer with you, Mister Werewolf?" Eugene spat, raising his eyebrows in a questioning gesture. "It's five days 'till the full moon and I can tell you're weak. How would you be able to stop me?"

Remus lunged forward, a snarl erupting from deep within his throat, and Tonks had to grip his arm with all her strength to keep him from taking a swing at the older man.

"Remus!"

"Nymphadora, let me handle this-"

"Don't call me Nymphadora!"

The couple's shouting match had Molly and Arthur sprinting into the kitchen, wands raised.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Arthur demanded.

"None of your business." Eugene muttered. "I'm only trying to keep my family safe."

"The hell you are!" Remus felt his wife grip his arm even tighter and pursed his lips into a thin line.

"Eugene-" Molly tried to be the mediator for the situation but Eugene wouldn't allow it.

"Ever since my son got mixed up with you people, all I've heard is bad news!" He exploded with rage to the point that his face was tinged with purple. "First one war, then him eloping with 'Dromeda because she was 'betrothed' to some rich blighter, another bloody war, a granddaughter who marries a fucking _werewolf_, then the entire lot of you turning against my son and trying to kill him! You took him away from the normal world when he was a child, just eleven years old, and got him mixed up in something that doesn't even concern him! Now he's probably dead."

Andromeda stormed out of the room with her face in her hands and her shoulders wracking with uncontrollable sobs, Molly and Arthur stood there with their jaws dropped almost to the floor, Tonks shot a dirty look at her grandfather before following her mother, and Remus was literally shaking trying to keep himself under control.

"Remus," Arthur had found his voice, and apparently his ability to move as well, and he placed his hand on Remus's shoulder. "I think Tonks and Andromeda need you right now. Come on."

Luckily Eugene had enough common sense to flee the room and lock himself in his study so Remus sighed, rubbed his tired eyes, and decided to follow Molly and Arthur upstairs.

"We've decided to head to Muriel's tonight, if you need a place to stay?" Molly offered. "It's close to here, and to the Burrow, so Tonks could get there easily. I'm sure Muriel wouldn't mind at all."

"That's very kind of you but I haven't the slightest idea what Tonks and her mother want to-" He stopped speaking when they reached the closed door to Andromeda's room. There were audible sobs coming through the thick wooden door and Remus pushed it open a crack to reveal his wife sitting on the bed, letting her mother cry openly into her shoulder.

"Mum, you know how he is. He didn't mean-"

"Nymphadora," Andromeda whispered her daughter's name between hiccups and sobs. "You know that's not true. He's always been annoyed by us and tonight pushed him past his breaking point. We need to be careful and get out before he gets even angrier."

"He's an old man and my granddad! What's he going to do to us?"

"You don't understand. Your grandfather has a great deal of money and power in the Muggle world. If he wants you to leave the continent, he could hire someone to get you out of here. When it'll be, I don't know, but they'll most likely use force. And weapons. You haven't seen your grandfather when he's legitimately angry before now and gets dangerous when he's angry."

"Where can we go?" Tonks instinctively placed her hands protectively over her baby bump as she spoke. "We can't go to the Burrow or our flat..."

"We'll go back to the house." Andromeda decided. "We'll get Arthur and Remus to put new protective enchantments on it and then we'll be good to go."

"Do you have anything to add, sweetheart?" Tonks turned her puffy red eyes toward her husband and raised her eyebrows.

"Whatever you decide is fine with me." Remus nearly jumped out of his skin when his wife called him out but pushed the door to the room all the way open and walked calmly into the room. "Listen, I know it's wrong to disrespect your elders but-" He strode to Tonks's side and pulled her into his arms. Without hesitation, she snaked her arms around his neck and let him hold her. "He makes it so bloody difficult!"

"I know," Tonks curled her fingers into the back of his head of shaggy hair and sighed. "You look like hell."

This angry outburst had taken its toll on him. The black circles under his eyes had gotten darker, his complexion was paler, and he was literally quaking with exhaustion.

"There's still so much more we have to do." Remus sighed as he pulled her to her feet. "Let's pack and get ready to leave. I'll talk to Arthur about enchantments and steal a car from the garage for transport."

"We _could_ just fly over there." Tonks said hopefully, which earned her a look from her mother as well as her husband. "Fine, I get it."

"Come along, dear." Remus entwined their fingers and pulled her toward their bedroom.

Andromeda summoned her suitcase from closet and began charming her belongings to fly into it just as the two stepped out of the room. It was clear that she was eager to leave her father-in-law's house.

* * *

"That should just about do it." Remus tossed his wand from one hand to the other and wiggled his cramped fingers. "Did you cast a Muggle-Repelling Charm or do I still need to?"

"I've already done it." Arthur ran a hand through his greying red hair and sat down on the steps leading to the front door of the house. "Once Molly's finished helping Andromeda and Tonks clean up the damage inside, we'll have to go back to watch Charlie."

"Thank you Arthur," Remus clapped his hand down on the older man's shoulder and took a seat beside him on the steps. "Ted's father has always made me angry, but never like that. I don't know what came over the both of us!"

"I'm glad we got the three of you out of there before it got even uglier." The screen door clattered shut behind them and both men turned to see Molly exiting the house.

"How was it?" Remus asked, his stomach sinking when Molly frowned. Maybe he should have kept Tonks outside with him...

"There was blood all over the walls and almost everything had been destroyed. We managed to salvage most of it, but-" She sighed and gave Remus a hug when he stood up beside her.

"Thank you." He whispered, giving her a small smile before shaking hands with Arthur and walking into the house.

"Remus?" Tonks was bent over as far as she could go behind the sofa in the den, siphoning blood off the floor with the tip of her wand. "Could you give me a hand? I think this was the only spot we missed."

"I'll take care of this, you need to get off your feet." Remus helped her stand up straight and sat her down on the sofa. Then, he knelt down behind the sofa and tried to vanish the bloodstains from the hardwood floor. "Are you all right?"

She turned her head to look at him and sighed when she saw the look of concern on his face.

"I'm okay, don't go worrying yourself over nothing." She ran a hand through her shoulder length, sky blue hair before continuing. "It's just-I've never seen Gramps that angry before. He's always kept his cool when Mum and Dad fought, and he helped me after-" She cleared her throat, not wanting to speak about his departure when they'd both finally made up. "Anyway, he scared the hell out of me."

"Hey," He switched his tone to one that would comfort her because he knew that her mood was changing. The colour of her hair had faded just slightly, but he caught it. "We'll work it out with him, I promise. For now, we just need to worry about yours and the baby's safety."

"And you and Mum," Tonks added, giving him a harsh stare. "You're both so important to me. Don't speak as if I'm the only thing that matters. I mean, we still have to prepare for your transformation-"

'About that," Remus cut in gently. "I won't have any Wolfsbane this month. Usually Minerva and Poppy bring the ingredients when they do your monthly check-up, but they don't know that we've relocated."

"Nonsense!" Tonks put her 'determined' face on and Remus felt like holding his head in his hands in defeat already. "I'll change my appearance, pop into Diagon Alley, get the ingredients, and come back. Easy as-"

"Over my dead body." Remus growled, standing up and moving to sit beside her on the sofa. "I'll go."

"The Death Eaters would recognize you in an instant! It would be less dangerous for me to go. Nobody will know it's me and I'll be in and out before you can say 'Metamorphmagus!'"

"And what would you do if they asked to see your wand to identify you?" Remus asked. Tonks frowned. "See? Too risky. I'll just lock myself in the basement until the transformation has run its course."

Tonks snuggled closer to him on the sofa and he put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his chest. When she spoke again, her words were slightly muffled.

"I can't stand knowing that you're in so much pain and I could have done something about it."

"I made tea! Who wants a cuppa?" Andromeda strode into the room carrying a tray with a teapot and three cups on it.

"That sounds wonderful, Andromeda. Thank you." Remus took a cup of tea for both him and Tonks and helped her sit up before she took it.

"Mum, can I ask you a question?" Tonks took a sip of her tea and Remus stiffened beside her. "Would it be at all possible to get ingredients for Remus's Wolfsbane potion?"

"That's a good question." Andromeda pondered it for a moment before speaking. "The only solution I can see is that one of us goes to Diagon Alley."

"That won't be necessary." Remus interrupted. "I've had to cope with the pain for around thirty years now and I don't want any of us in danger just to make me more comfortable. It's fine, I don't need it."

"But-" Tonks tried to protest, but Remus gave her a look that shut her up immediately.

"There has to be a solution that doesn't involve any of us getting into trouble." Andromeda sensed another argument between her daughter and her husband and decided to try to help them avoid it. "Who do we know that isn't going to be sent to prison if they go to Diagon Alley?"

"Fred and George," Tonks suggested. Remus shook his head.

"I'm not putting Molly's children at risk."

"Well who else is there?" Tonks asked. "And I'm sure they'd be fine with it. Nobody wants you to be in pain when there's an alternative, Remus."

"What about Kingsley?" Andromeda suggested. "I'm sure that he wouldn't mind. And with him being second-in-command at the Auror Department now, he'll probably have a way to go undercover to get the ingredients."

"I'll contact him." Remus said reluctantly, apparently agreeing that Kingsley was the best choice. "But if it inconveniences him in any way, we'll go with my plan."

"Fine." Tonks agreed. Remus sent his patronus, a great eagle owl, out to Kingsley's flat with their message. For a few minutes they sat there in silence, sipping their tea and avoiding each others' eyes, before Kingsley's patronus appeared. The lynx padded once around the living room carpet and settled down before speaking in Kingsley's deep voice.

"I understand your predicament Remus, and I'd be glad to help. Meet me where you used to live before you moved in with Tonks tomorrow at three o'clock and I'll give you the ingredients. Also, tell her I send my regards. Everyone at the Ministry misses her and can't wait for this stupid war to be over so she can come back. They all want to see the baby when he's born, too. See you tomorrow."

The lynx yawned once, batted its ear lazily with its paw, and disappeared.

"See? That wasn't so difficult, was it?" Tonks said, smiling. Remus looked at her for a moment, then yawned. "It's almost five in the morning! You need to rest. Come on, let's go to bed."

Remus's cheeks turned pink for a moment when he realised that Andromeda had heard that, but when he looked at her he saw that she was completely immersed in her knitting.

"Good night, Andromeda." Remus called as Tonks grabbed his hand and pulled him off toward their bedroom.

"Sleep tight, you two." Andromeda said, just barely suppressing her giggles until they were out of earshot.

* * *

Since the couple went to bed so late, they slept in for an excessive amount of time. In fact when they woke up, it was around two o'clock in the afternoon.

"Mmph," Remus awoke to the touch of feather-light kisses being placed down his throat. "At any other time I would take you up on your offer darling, but I'm tired."

He tried to keep his eyes squeezed shut as the kisses trailed lower, over his bare chest and down to the waistband of his plaid pyjama pants. The lower half of his body was betraying him and he cursed his wife's ability to turn him on even though he didn't have the energy to make love to her. Damn his lycanthropy, making him horribly tired the days before his transformation.

"Nymphadora, please." His words came out in a groan and he heard her chuckle from her place against his chest. "I have to meet Kingsley in an hour. You can have your way with me when I come back."

"All right, you win this time." She slid back up the bed and placed a tender kiss to his lips. "Do you want me to wake you in a half an hour?"

"I guess I'll get up now, since _someone_ already woke me up all the way." Remus sighed, forcing himself into a sitting position and rubbing his bleary eyes.

"I'm sorry." Tonks took one look at his exhausted features and instantly felt remorse for her actions. "I'll go make breakfast-well, lunch now. Do you want Earl Grey or English Breakfast tea?"

"English Breakfast." Remus gave her a grateful smile then yawned before sliding off the bed. "Thank you."

Tonks pecked him on the lips once more, gave him an apologetic look, pulled on her robe, and strode out the door toward the kitchen. Remus ran a hand through his hair and smiled.

When Remus had shaved, showered, and dressed, he walked out into the kitchen to find Andromeda and Tonks standing behind the stove.

"Now flip it! Quickly, before it burns!"

"I've never cooked pancakes without magic before, cut me some slack!" Tonks was flailing wildly with the spatula and Andromeda quickly took over. In a matter of minutes, the brunch was finished and both women turned around to see Remus suppressing his laughter. "What are you laughing at, mister?"

"Nothing." Remus put his hands up and kept a straight face. "Thank you both for this.. breakfast? Lunch? Whatever the hell it is, it looks delicious."

"You're welcome." Andromeda used her wand to charm the dishes onto the table and they ate their brunch with gusto.

"Well, I've got to go." Remus glanced down at his watch and pushed his chair back from the table. "See you in a bit."

Remus walked outside into the garden, then past the stone wall that led to the street, and disapparated. When he reappeared, he found himself outside a familiar, shady apartment building that housed his old flat.

"Remus?" Kingsley's voice came from an alley to the left of the door of the building. Remus drew his wand and walked hesitantly over to him. "Who was the largest nonhuman resident at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place?"

"Buckbeak the hippogriff." Remus answered after a second of hesitation. "What did I contact you about last night and what shape is your patronus?"

"You asked me to retrieve ingredients for your Wolfsbane potion for your transformation later this week, which would have been useless anyway because it would take you too long to brew, and my patronus is a lynx."

"What do you mean?" Remus asked, obviously shocked. "It only takes a day to brew."

"But you have to take it all of this week for it to be effective." Kingsley explained. Remus smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand.

"How could I be so stupid. And Tonks was ready to put herself in danger to get the ingredients-I'm so glad I didn't let her go."

"Well, dear friend, you're in luck today. I happen to know a person who has the same problem as you and he had potion to spare. Here you are." Kingsley handed him a bag full of black phials, one for each day of the week. "He says that you don't even have to pay him. It's on the house for a friend of Mr. Potter."

"Give him my thanks." Remus said gratefully, carefully stowing the bag in one of the pockets of his travelling cloak. "And thank you too, Kingsley."

"It was no problem." He waved the apology off and smiled. "So anyway, how is Tonks doing?"

"She's great." Remus said, smiling. "The baby's due sometime in April and she's thrilled. We did have a bit of a row with her granddad, Ted's father, though. He wanted to take her out of the country, even though all of You-Know-Who's followers are watching every method of transportation, and I almost hit him. We had to leave his house...It turned out worse than I'd expected."

"That's unfortunate." Kingsley said, resting his hand on Remus's shoulder in support. When he drew his hand back, he spoke again. "Things haven't been going well at the Ministry, either. You-Know-Who's puppet, Pius Thicknesse, has been passing all sorts of legislation against Muggle-borns and Magical Creatures. It makes me sick to have to apprehend people who haven't done anything wrong, but I'm one of the last of the Order's spies inside the Ministry now."

"Arthur told me he had to leave the Ministry." Remus added.

"Yes, Thicknesse personally called him up to his office and accused him of being in contact with Undesirable Number One, which is Harry, and Arthur cleared out of there as fast as he could. I heard about the attack on the Burrow, are they all right?"

"Arthur and Charlie were the only ones inside the house at the time." Remus said. Kingsley breathed a sigh of relief. "Arthur's fine. Charlie's been out for the past day or two, though. Bellatrix Lestrange got to him before Arthur could apparate the two of them out of there."

"That's horrible." Kingsley leaned against the brick side of the apartment building and shook his head in disgust. "Going after the Weasleys like that-at Christmas, too. At least Harry, Ron, and Hermione were smart enough to stay away for the holidays."

"I never once thought they would return just for some Christmas dinner." Remus said. "But clearly, the Death Eaters thought that the trio placed more importance on Molly's treacle tart than their time on the run from You-Know-Who."

"Bellatrix and her bunch of followers were never the brightest." Kingsley said with a small smile. Remus nodded in agreement.

"Well, I left Tonks and Andromeda at home alone so I should be getting back."

"Good to see you, Remus." Kingsley gave him a quick hug before Remus stepped back and disapparated. "You can come out now."

An old woman limped down the alley toward Kingsley, who was shooting her a disgusted look. Just before she reached him, she transformed back into a thin, almost gaunt woman with wild black hair and manic look in her eyes.

"You followed through, Kingsley. I guess I can let your wife go now." The woman snapped her fingers and Kingsley's wife appeared beside her, bound and gagged.

"You sicken me, Bellatrix Lestrange." Kingsley growled, drawing his wand. "Making me betray my friends to keep my wife alive. Was that enough information for you?"

"Quite." Bellatrix let out a high-pitched laugh, her wand still pointed at the woman lying on the ground.

"Release her." Kingsley demanded. "I gave you what you asked for."

"And what if I don't?" Bellatrix giggled, raising her eyebrows when Kingsley raised his wand and pointed it at her head. "Ooh, Mister Shacklebolt. I don't think _my Master_ would appreciate you threatening his most loyal follower!"

"Let. Her. Go." Kingsley's voice was carefully controlled but his calm demeanour was slowly deteriorating. "Now."

"Whatever you say," Bellatrix flicked her wand and the ropes fell away from the woman's body. The gag flew out of her mouth and the first thing she did was emit a loud, blood-curdling scream.

"Amy!" Kingsley yelled, dropping his wand hand to his side and running over to her. "What the hell did you do to her?"

"Oh nothing," Bellatrix watched as Kingsley pulled his wife into his arms, stood up, and backed away from her. "I only used the Cruciatus curse a few times. At least _Voldemort_ didn't torture her."

'You bitch!"

Bellatrix laughed once more before turning on the spot and disapparating. The second she left a group of seven snatchers appeared in the alley, their wands raised and smiles on their faces. One of them quickly cast an anti-apparition jinx, leaving Kingsley with nothing to do but fight.

"Mister Shacklebolt, you're going to have to come with us." One of the snatchers stepped forward and gestured for him to join them. Kingsley stood his ground, his wife balanced on one of his arms now, and raised his wand. "You don't want to do this. You and your wife will be slaughtered."

"Let's see about that." Kingsley brought his wand down to his side in a slashing motion. The lead snatcher who had been speaking was unable to deflect the curse in time and his face split open down the middle. Blood began gushing from the enormous wound and he fell to the ground, writhing in pain. By the time the other snatchers had figured out what had happened, Kingsley had taken out two more of them with the same curse.

"Stupefy!"

Kingsley deflected it easily with a slight flick of his wand and sent a jet of purple light flying back at the man who had cast the curse. He went flying into the brick wall at the back of the alley and a loud cracking noise erupted from his fractured skull.

"Avada Kedavra!"

This one he sidestepped, careful to shield Amy when the green light ricocheted off the ground and sent pieces of rubble from the brick walls surrounding them falling down on their heads. This time, he made a grand gesture with his wand hand and a cloud of blue mist blew toward the snatcher. He fell to the ground, his face purple because he was suddenly unable to breathe. Just two more to take care of.

"Mr. Shacklebolt, I beg you to reconsider," One of the last snatchers sent the Cruciatus curse flying at him and he sidestepped that one as well. "This is only extending your stay in Azkaban!"

"You bastards kidnapped my wife, tortured her, made me betray one of my best friends, and continue to capture and kill the people I care about." Kingsley snarled. "And now, you'll pay."

He began flicking his wand at a speed that no one could have possibly done before. Curses flew in every inch of space on the snatchers' side of the alley and the last two fell almost instantly, one of them out cold (or dead) and the other one grasping at his now-empty eye sockets.

"Have a pleasant evening, gentlemen." Kingsley spat as he turned on his heel to disapparate. He reappeared outside the, now invisible, Tonks/Lupin household and sent a patronus to Remus telling him to let them in.

"Kingsley? What the hell happened to you? And who's that?" Remus let him into the yard, after they exchanged security questions of course, and Kingsley immediately turned his attention toward his injured wife.

"Amy? It's Kingsley, please speak to me." He cupped her cheek in his hand and kissed her lovingly on the lips. "I just need to know if you're in any pain, okay?"

"She used the curse so many times," Amy whispered. She was actively shivering in his arms. "It felt like my entire mind was being ripped apart. And she was everywhere, laughing and saying I was going to die. Over and over and over again."

"I've got you now, everything's going to be all right." Kingsley murmured. "Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere." Amy croaked, tears now streaming down her cheeks. "Merlin, it hurts everywhere."

"Remus, I need some pain-relief potion, pepper-up potion, anything you've got." Kingsley said. Remus scurried into the house to get it. "And dreamless sleep, while you're at it!" He turned back to Amy and continued comforting her. "Did she only use the Cruciatus curse?"

"Yes." Amy whispered. "Every second of every day it felt like my body was on fire. Now it aches instead of burns. Everywhere aches."

"I'm going to make it all better, I promise." Kingsley said determinedly.

"Here," Remus sprinted to his side, Andromeda and Tonks close behind, with an armful of potion bottles. "You can give her some of these now and then we'll move her inside."

"Thank you." Kingsley said as he selected bottles and began tipping their contents down his wife's throat. "Oh, Remus-this is my wife, Amy. Amy, this is Remus. Back there is Andromeda and Nymphadora, who likes to be known as Tonks."

"Hello." Amy whispered before the Dreamless Sleep potion took effect and she fell into a deep sleep.

"What in Merlin's name happened after I left?" Remus asked, glancing from Amy to Kingsley with a confused look on his face.

"Bellatrix was there when I received your patronus." Kingsley said, his tone tinged with anger. "We were bartering for Amy's life, because Bellatrix had kidnapped her a few days before, and she immediately agreed that information about you, Tonks, and Andromeda was enough for Amy's life. What I didn't expect was to be met with seven snatchers after the bitch left. I had to duel all of them at once and I think I killed most of them. Not my finest hour, but the anger from them torturing my wife and from betraying you fuelled my power."

"Does she know where we are? Did you tell her?" Tonks asked.

"No. Remus revealed nothing about your location except that you left your father-in-law's house. You're safe, for now." Kingsley assured her. "Do you think that Amy and I could stay here tonight, just until I find other arrangements?"

"Of course." Andromeda said with a smile. "I'll take you to the guest room. Follow me."

Kingsley, with Amy cradled in his arms, disappeared into the house behind Andromeda, leaving Remus and Tonks in the yard.

"Can we trust him? He almost gave us up to Bellatrix!" Tonks said, not bothering to hide her rage.

"Kingsley Shacklebolt is the most trustworthy man I know, and I would have probably sold him out if you were in danger." Remus said, frowning when Tonks gave him a weird look. "What? I seriously would have. Not with the finesse that Kingsley used, but-"

"Don't say things like that." Tonks said, shushing him. "You're not that kind of man, and neither is Kingsley. He didn't actually even say anything about us. You did all the talking."

"Your mood swings are scaring me." Remus said, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "One minute you're all angry at him and the next you're justifying his actions?"

"Do you want me to get angry at you, Remus John Lupin?" Tonks asked, her hair changing to a short, fiery red colour to match her mood.

"No ma'am." Remus held his hands up in front of him in surrender and she laughed.

"Let's go inside, I think we've had enough excitement for one day."

"Really?" Remus took a step closer to her so that his hot breath warmed her cheeks on the cold winter afternoon. "Because I beg to differ."

His lips met her own in a passionate kiss and her arms instantly snaked around his neck, pulling him closer. Her fingers curled in his shaggy salt-and-pepper locks and she kissed her way from his lips to his earlobe before speaking.

"I like your hair this long," She said, nipping his earlobe with her teeth and sending shivers down his spine. "I don't think you should cut it after your transformation."

"Really?" Remus said, his voice cracking as she ground her hips against his own. "Merlin, Tonks, I love you."

Their lips crashed together once more and Tonks felt herself literally being lifted off the ground when he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Oi!" Tonks literally jumped away from Remus, whose face turned beet red, and turned to see Andromeda standing on the porch. "If you're going to get naked, I'd prefer you do it in the house. With the door locked. And silencing charms. Have fun!"

"That ruined the mood." Tonks said, just after the screen door clattered shut behind her mother. "You know it seems like every time we try to be alone, something gets in the way."

"Well, I'm thoroughly embarrassed for the day. Want to play wizards chess?" Remus suggested. Tonks sighed and rolled her eyes, pretending to be annoyed.

"Fine, let's go play."

**Yeah, that took about six hours to write. It clocks in at about 6000 words without author's notes and... I don't know. I thought it was okay.**

**Kingsley's encounter with the snatchers is supposed to be when he says You-Know-Who's name and has to single-handedly duel a group of snatchers/death eaters...**

**I was also kind of sad to leave Eugene behind, but you know, had to be done. Okay. I'm tired.**

**Anyway, tell me how you feel in a REVIEW!**


	8. Chapter 8

**As I was writing this chapter, I decided to put Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on in the background. Loving the daily dose of Remus Lupin, a man whom I obviously adore, but I needed to see him and Tonks together! So I decided to watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix after that. Wheeeee! Marathon!**

**This chapter was... interesting to write. I'm pretty young, so writing scene like the second one (I'm not going to ruin it yet) was kind of scary. If anyone has any tips to make it better, tips might not be the...right word, please tell me in a review/PM. **

**EDIT: Thank you to KachinaGirl for pointing out that Ginny is sixteen, not seventeen. I even went back to the book and read that _specific part of the chapter _to make sure I didn't mess anything up! Well, nobody's perfect... Thanks again for pointing that out!**

**Happy reading!**

Kingsley and Amy decided to depart from the Tonks/Lupin household the day after New Years. Andromeda was unhappy about this, since she and Amy had become friends in the few days they had spent in each other's company, and Kingsley had to constantly reassure her that their new residence would be much safer for them. Remus's transformation passed without any problems and his time spent as a wolf was on a comfortable pile of blankets in his and Tonks's room. Tonks even decided to spend the day sitting next to him, reading aloud from a Defence Against the Dark Arts book she'd found on the shelf in the den and stroking his fur.

January and February were totally uneventful months. The trio spent their days cooking, cleaning, reading, playing wizards chess and gobstones, and basically lounging around the house. One of the only exciting things that happened was Remus's radio debut as Romulus on Potterwatch. However, Remus did plan a nice dinner for him and his wife in the garden on Valentines' Day. He'd charmed hundreds of pink paper lanterns to float around the yard, set up a picnic blanket, cast an incredibly strong heating charm, and spent the night pointing out constellations in the sky with Tonks snuggled against his side.

At the end of March, when Tonks was heavily pregnant-a week from exactly nine months, Remus came home from one of his briefings for the Potterwatch radio program with horrible news.

"Remus, Mum just taught me how to make this tomato sauce for spaghetti that's pretty tasty. You should try it." Tonks was bustling about the kitchen when Remus entered the room, a smile on her face and a wooden spoon in her hand. "How was the briefing? Any important news from the outside?" She looked over at him and saw tears trickling down his pale cheeks. "Remus? What's wrong?"

She moved to stand in front of him, hands on hips, with a worried look on her face. He pulled her into his arms and rested his chin on top of her head.

"A scouting patrol from Edinburgh just came back," He whispered. "I'm so sorry. Your father-"

The spoon clattered to the floor and Tonks began to sob uncontrollably. Remus tried to console her, but she was too distraught.

"He c-can't be! It didn't-He wasn't-" She couldn't even get a coherent sentence out.

"I'm sorry," Remus repeated as her tears soaked the front of his travelling cloak. "Nymphadora, it's going to be all right."

"What's going on?" Andromeda strode into the room with a few green clippings in her hand. "I run out to the garden to get some thyme and this is what happens while I'm gone? I swear to God if you leave her again Remus, I'll hex you into oblivion!"

This made Tonks cry harder and run from Remus's arms over to her mother's.

"R-Remus just h-heard that dad... He's dead, Mum. He's dead."

Andromeda froze, her anger at Remus forgotten, and her face immediately paled.

"What happened?" She asked, turning her head to look Remus in the eye.

"He was travelling with Dirk Cresswell, Dean Thomas, and two goblins named Griphook and Gornuk." Remus said, trying to keep as much emotion out of his voice as possible. "A couple of days ago in Edinburgh, some snatchers found them. We don't know how, but... Anyway, the leader of that particular group of snatchers was Fenrir Greyback and he-" Remus's voice broke and he cleared his throat. "He killed all of them but Dean and Griphook for resisting capture. Our team of scouts found their bodies in a ditch by a river."

Andromeda looked at him for a moment before she started to cry as well, holding onto her daughter for dear life. Remus stood awkwardly in the corner of the kitchen, wiping his eyes on the corner of his travelling cloak, before Tonks turned her head toward him and beckoned him closer. He wrapped his arms around both women to try to comfort them, but they seemed inconsolable.

"Nym, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Remus couldn't stop apologizing and his wife buried her face in his shoulder. "We'll find the men who killed your father and defeat, along with V-" He caught himself mid-phrase. "Along with You-Know-Who."

"Damn right we will!" Tonks confirmed, looking up at him with teary eyes. "We'll take those bastards down, one by one."

Andromeda wasn't capable of speaking at the moment, but she tightened her arms around her daughter in agreement. For a moment the room was relatively silent, save for the sniffles and shallow breaths caused by the trio's hysterics, and the trio forgot about everything else in the world-including dinner, which was being overcooked as they stood there.

Suddenly the room was filled with smoke from the pot on the stove, which was obviously on fire, and Remus shoved Tonks and her mother out of the kitchen in a protective gesture. Then, acting on pure instinct, he picked the pot up with his bare hands and threw it out the open window over the sink.

"Shit!" Tonks moved toward the door to the garden, but her mother beat her to it. Looking through the window, she could see her mother cast the Aguamenti charm on the still-smoking pot until the fire vanished completely. Remus was still standing in front of the stove, breathing heavily and staring at his blistering hands. "Remus, are you all right?"

"Some burn cream would do me good right now." He murmured. She summoned it quickly and busied herself with applying it to his hands. The burns vanished completely almost instantly and he turned on the sink to run them under the cool water. "Thank you."

"I've put the fire out." Andromeda carried the pot back into the house and placed it gingerly upon the slightly-blackened stovetop. "How long did you have the stove on under the pot? I said fifteen minutes, not fifty!"

"I'm sorry, I got distracted." Tonks admitted. "And it might have been on there _slightly_ over the suggested time."

"Wonderful." Andromeda looked slightly angry. "Just another high point in my day. My best cooking pot, ruined."

* * *

"REMUS! STOP. TALKING."

Tonks's water had broken at two o'clock in the afternoon on April the fifteenth, 1998. Remus, using all of the techniques that Poppy and Minerva had coached him through, was trying to calm his hysterical wife down, but she wouldn't have it.

"Just trying to help, dear." He grunted as she squeezed his hand even tighter, if that was possible, and continued her string of almost-inaudible curses toward him, Merlin, and God.

"It's almost time to push!" Poppy said while smiling up at Remus and Tonks, who were both wearing relieved expressions. "Oh, isn't this exciting!"

Tonks shot her a venomous glare, but Poppy shrugged it off with a grin. Minerva, who was waiting outside the room, stuck her head in and squeezed her eyes shut.

"I never pegged you for the squeamish type, Minerva." Tonks laughed for the first time since she'd gone into labour, but her smile turned into a frown when another particularly painful contraction hit. "Damn it, when am I allowed to push the little bugger out of me?"

"That's no way to talk about your child, darling." Andromeda walked into the room carrying a tray of tea and biscuits. "Just hold on for a few more minutes."

Tonks groaned in pain and clutched Remus's hand in hers with all her strength, causing him to wince as his joints cracked uncomfortably. Just when Tonks thought that she could take no more of this horrible agony, Poppy's head appeared between her legs again and this time her expression was serious.

"It's time."

"I'm scared." Tonks admitted, loud enough that only Remus could hear her. "I've been through much worse than this, but I'm still terrified. What if I'm not a good mother?"

"You will be." Remus assured her, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. "And you're the bravest witch I've ever met. You can do this, Nymphadora."

"Breathe, dear." Poppy said, trying to soothe the younger woman as she monitored the baby's progress. "That's it, deep breaths while we wait for the next contraction. Now push."

From Tonks's perspective, the rest of the delivery went by faster than anything else she'd ever done. Within what seemed like seconds, the room was filled with a baby's cries and Remus had his arms around her. At one minute to midnight on April the fifteenth 1998, their baby was born. Poppy had asked Remus if he wanted to cut the umbilical cord but, his face pale and his hands shaking, he'd decided not to. Then, after Poppy had finished assessing both Tonks and the baby's health, Andromeda called Molly into the room.

"It's a boy!" Poppy squealed as she wrapped his tiny body in a blanket and gave him to Tonks to hold. "A handsome baby boy! Isn't the miracle of birth absolutely astounding?"

Once again Tonks shot her a weird look, but immediately returned her gaze to the baby resting against her chest.

"Have either of you thought of any names?" Andromeda asked eagerly. "I mean, you have some time to think but-"

"I like the name Ted." Remus suggested immediately. "Ted Lupin, it has a nice ring to it."

"Ted Remus Lupin." Tonks murmured. "For his father and grandfather, the two most important men in our lives. I like it."

"Your father would be over the moon right now." Andromeda was openly crying now. "If only he could have seen little Teddy here before he..." Her voice broke and she could say no more.

"I believe you educated yourself with Muggle books at Eugene's house for the pregnancy," Poppy interrupted. She cleared her throat before continuing. "And wizarding births aren't that different. The delivery is exactly the same, save for the painkillers and equipment, but the end is different. I just need to vanish the placenta, repair any damage you have from the birth, and then we're done."

"That's it?" Remus had seen a lot of babies being born during his time spent at the werewolf camps and none of them had gone like this. They had always been worse. Much worse.

"If the Medi-Witch is trained correctly, and I do believe I am, then there should be no complications with the rest of the birthing process when doing it the magical way." She placed the tip of her wand on top of Tonks's stomach and the tip glowed golden. "There it is. We're done."

"Wicked." Tonks's head fell back onto the pillows behind her and Remus carefully extracted their son from her arms.

"Hello, Teddy." Remus looked happier than Tonks had ever seen him, excluding their wedding day, as he cradled his son in his arms and smiled down at him. "You're a lucky little boy, you know that? You've got a wonderful mum, a terrific grandmother, and most importantly a big family who loves you. You're going to be just fine." Remus turned his attention to Poppy and narrowed his eyes. "Is there any way to check-?"

"He doesn't have it Remus, so stop worrying." Poppy assured him with a smile. "I've already checked. There are absolutely no traces of lycanthropy in his blood at all."

"Thank Merlin for that." Remus looked relieved and moved his hand to brush some of his son's hair away from his eyes.

"Remus, look!" Tonks had her eyes fixed on her son's head of light brown hair, which was slowly switching between a bright pink and turquoise colour. "He's a Metamorphmagus, like me!"

"That's amazing! Look at him go," Minerva's eyes were fixed on his hair, which had begun to change more rapidly as the seconds passed by, and a huge grin was plastered on her face. "And Remus, he looks just like you. But his eyes, they're his mother's for sure."

"Until he figures out how to change them." Andromeda piped up. "Which won't take long. Tonks was changing her entire face every minute about an hour after she was born."

"We should take a picture before he starts, then." Poppy pulled a camera out of the bag next to her, much to everyone's surprise, and rolled her eyes. "What, I came prepared! Don't tell me you don't want pictures of him as well."

"You've got me there." Remus admitted with a smile. "Thank you, Poppy."

"First let's get one of just the baby," Poppy snapped the picture quickly, a smile on her face, before directing Remus over to Tonks's bedside. "And now one of the family."

Remus handed Teddy to Tonks and wrapped an arm around her, his eyes not looking at the camera but down at their son, and Poppy took the picture.

"Hey!" Remus protested, glancing over at Poppy with a frown on his face. "I wasn't even looking at the camera!"

"I'm sure it came out perfectly all the same." Poppy assured him. "And if it makes you feel better, Tonks wasn't looking either."

Remus looked over at his wife, who was still fixated on their son, and smiled. Suddenly Teddy began shifting restlessly in his mother's arms, turning, and squirming against his mother's chest. After a moment, he began to cry and Remus looked bewildered.

"Remus, there's nothing wrong." Tonks sensed his confusion and placed her hand on his forearm. "He's just hungry."

"Oh," Remus's face reddened in embarrassment as he wondered how he could have misinterpreted that apparently clear sign of hunger. "Well, um..."

"I think that's our cue to go." Minerva grabbed Poppy's arm and pulled her toward the door. "Severus will be wondering where we went and the last thing we need is for him to get suspicious. I hear Harry's on the move and almost done his mission."

"It's true," Remus said. "Potterwatch can confirm it."

"Anyway," Poppy began. "Andromeda here is trained enough in wizarding medicine to help you if anything should go wrong from here on out. You have fun now."

Minerva and Poppy left the room, chattering away like schoolgirls, and Remus directed his attention back to his wife, who had lifted her shirt and began to nurse their son.

"I still can't believe we're parents." Tonks murmured as she stroked their son's now sky-blue hair.

"It seems quite surreal." Remus agreed. "I love you, Nymphadora Tonks. You know that, right?"

"How could I not?" Tonks replied, smiling. "Oh, and Remus? Don't call me Nymphadora, you dolt."

"Noted."

* * *

Tonks and Remus agreed that it wouldn't be safe for the baby to leave the house with the Lestranges out to get them, so Remus visited both Muriel's and Shell Cottage without her and Teddy. The visit to Muriel's had been a few days after Teddy was born and Molly, Arthur, and Charlie insisted on visiting just to see him. The Shell Cottage visit took place around Easter, only because Remus couldn't find time to get away, and he'd returned slightly tipsy and extremely happy. He and Tonks had danced to a random Celestina Warbeck song that was playing on the Wizarding Wireless and made fools of themselves in front of Andromeda for the remainder of the night.

At the beginning of May, their happiness came to an abrupt halt. Remus received a message through Potterwatch on the Wireless that Harry was mounting his final attack on You-Know-Who at Hogwarts and refused to let Tonks go with him.

"Please stay here with Teddy," He pleaded as he threw on his travelling cloak. "I don't want you to get hurt, and he needs you. Promise me that you won't leave him."

Tonks had agreed, after a few minutes of his pleading, and kissed him passionately on the lips before he sprinted out the door and disapparated. After about a half an hour she handed Teddy to Andromeda, promised her mother multiple times that she would come home, and followed her husband to Hogwarts.

"I heard you're the one to speak to if you want to get into the castle." Tonks apparated into the Hog's Head with a loud pop and sprinted over to the barman.

"You're a bit later than the others," He said, leading her upstairs to the portrait that would take her to the Room of Requirement. "But I've never known you to be on time. How are you, Tonks? I saw your husband a while ago, but I didn't get a chance to ask him about-"

"Yes, I had a baby. His name is Teddy, he's almost a month old, he's bloody adorable, and I'd like to make sure that his Dad comes home alive- so can you please let me into the castle?" Tonks asked, knowing that her tone was inappropriate but not caring in the slightest. Aberforth rolled his eyes and winked at Ariana to tell her to open the passage. "Thanks, Ab."

"Don't mention it," Aberforth clapped her on the back and hoisted her up above the fireplace so she could enter the tunnel. "Just don't go getting yourself killed! Your Mum wouldn't ever forgive me for sending you to your death."

"I promise I'll see you after the battle," Tonks assured him, her words echoing as she ran toward the castle. "Because I plan on going back home to my son."

She entered a room filled with hammocks, small cots, and various belongings covered in Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw colours. The only person still inside the room was Ginny, who let out a surprised squeal when she laid eyes on her. Neville's grandmother was also standing next to Ginny, hunched over and panting.

"Tonks! Why are you here? I heard-"

"No time," Tonks panted. "I have to go find Remus. Do you have any idea what's happening on the outside?"

"Only that there's a huge battle and they're practically demolishing the castle out there." Ginny replied. "Mum made me stay here after she saw how many Death Eaters-"

"I need to find Neville as well, dear. Calm down, we don't want to go rushing outside to our deaths do we?" Mrs. Longbottom interrupted Ginny, who frowned and pursed her lips into a thin line. Tonks nodded reluctantly in agreement, wanting nothing more than to find her husband but knowing that recklessness would only get them killed. "Let's think this through before we open the door to the battle outside."

Before they could even begin to plan, none other than Harry Potter stuck his head in the room.

"Ah, Potter. You can tell us what's going on." Mrs. Longbottom said crisply. Harry frowned. It was shaping up to be quite a long explanation and he didn't have time to be standing around.

"Is everyone okay?" Ginny and Tonks spoke together.

"'S far as we know," Harry said quickly. "Is anyone else coming up through the passage in the Hog's head?"

"Tonks and I were the last to come through." Mrs. Longbottom said. "And I told Aberforth to seal it once I came through. He said something about fighting through the front gates of the castle, but... Anyway, have you seen my grandson?"

"He's fighting." Harry told her.

"Naturally." Her words were filled with pride. "If you'll excuse me, I should go and assist him."

She trotted out of the room and toward the greenhouses, where she knew her grandson would probably be stationed.

"I thought you were supposed to be with Teddy at your mother's?" Harry was staring straight at Tonks, who let out a frustrated sigh.

"I couldn't stand not knowing-" She hoped that she didn't look as worried as she felt. "She'll look after him. Have you seen Remus?"

"He was planning to lead a group of fighters onto the grounds-"

That was all Tonks needed to hear, and she sped off toward the entrance hall. A few moments later, Ginny was behind her.

"It's too dangerous, Ginny! Go back to Harry!" Tonks had her wand at the ready as she took the stairs two at a time and ran out the front doors. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

"I'm sixteen years old, not six, and I'm capable of taking on a few Death Eaters! Did the battle in the Department of Mysteries in my fourth year never happen?" Ginny said, scanning the chaos before them in an attempt to find the man they were searching for. "Besides, I'm not going to sit around while my friends risk their lives to fight Voldemort. That's bullshit. I might as well stick with you and help you find Professor Lupin."She glanced over toward the base of the Astronomy tower and her eyes widened. "There he is! Fighting Dolohov under the Astronomy tower!"

Tonks, even from across the courtyard, could see blood streaming down her husband's face from a cut above his eye and that he was in danger of being overpowered by the other man. She took off at a run and barely made it to them before Dolohov cast the killing curse.

"NO!" Tonks literally dove onto the other man's back, causing the curse to fly over Remus's head and ricochet off the stones at the base of the tower. Remus fired an expertly aimed stunner that made Dolohov's eyes roll back into his head as he fell to the ground, unconscious. Then, Tonks bound his hands behind his back and snapped his wand in two with the bottom of her black leather combat boot. After she did a quick survey of the area around them, which seemed to be free of any Death Eaters capable of fighting, and ran to her husband's side. He had sunk to the ground, his legs too unstable and shaky to hold him, and was attempting to stem the flow of blood from his head. "Remus! Oh, thank Merlin you're all right. I thought I'd lost you!"

"Nymphadora, you know I'll be around to annoy you forever." Remus assured her weakly. "Now let me find a blood-replenishing potion and a bandage and then I can fight again-"

"Remus, you can't even stand up. I think you're going to be down and out for a little while." Tonks began siphoning the blood from his face with the tip of her wand and tried to heal the gash on his forehead with her limited medicinal expertise. "Poppy's going to have to finish healing this. I was never good with-"

A jet of green light flew inches away from her head, singeing a few stray hairs close to her ear, and she whirled around to see her dearest aunt and uncle standing behind them. Bellatrix was clearly surprised that her killing curse had missed, but laughed it off. Rodolphus, who had a huge scar across his face from when Tonks cursed him over the summer, stood there with an expression devoid of any emotion.

"That's just like you Auntie," Tonks spat. "Attacking when your opponent's back is turned."

"You know I like to fight dirty, _Nymphadora._" She stressed every syllable of the name, knowing that it would annoy her niece beyond belief, and let out a high-pitched laugh. "Besides, trying to fight us is pointless! Your worthless dog of a husband can't even see straight-"

A jet of purple light flew at her face from the tip of Remus's wand and she couldn't block it in time. Her left cheek began swelling out of control to the point that it obscured her vision and made her words sound gargled.

"I'll kill you for that." She slurred. "Rodolphus! Get them!"

But her husband was nowhere to be found. She turned her head sharply to see him in combat with Ginny and Kingsley, who clearly had the upper hand, and had to force herself not to assist him.

"Not so sure of yourself now, are you Auntie Bella?" Tonks said as she helped Remus to his feet. He was still very unsteady and held onto her for support when standing, but he was still able to fight. "Fight us yourself. See how good my husband is at duelling, why don't you!"

Bellatrix let out a disgusted shriek and began hurling curses at them left and right. Tonks was on the defensive, blocking almost all of the curses that flew at her and Remus, while her husband countered the other witch's curses with more powerful ones of his own. Some of them were even his own creation, like the one that caused her left arm to become immobilized like a statue or the one that forced her wand hand to jerk every time she tried to cast a spell.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Bellatrix screeched, attempting to kill them over and over again. "DIE, YOU WORTHLESS HALF-BLOODS! FREAKS! DIE!"

Remus and Tonks were holding their own against her, still firing curses with as much speed and stamina as they did when the duel began, but their battle came to an abrupt halt when a loud voice cut through the noise of the battle. Obviously, the voice belonged to Voldemort and he was trying to convince them to hand over Harry once more.

"_I, Lord Voldemort, give you one hour to respectfully dispose of your dead and I call my troops to retreat now. I also request that Harry Potter meet me in the Forbidden Forest and accept his fate, instead of letting his friends die for him. If he does not choose to do so, I will double my troops' efforts and ensure that every witch, wizard, or creature that tries to defy me will die. I will even enter the fray myself. You have one hour."_

"This isn't over." Bellatrix hissed as she turned into a cloud of black smoke and flew toward the Forbidden Forest. Rodolphus followed closely behind her and the sky became black as hundreds of Death Eaters retreated.

"Come on." Tonks let Remus lean on her as she led him toward the Great Hall, where she suspected that medical attention was being given. Ginny and Kingsley rushed over to help them and they reached the Hall in a matter of minutes.

"Oh, no." Ginny's face paled when she saw her entire family grouped around a motionless body lying on the floor. "No, it can't be. Not him!"

She ran to her mother's side and buried her face in her shoulder. Tonks let out a surprised gasp and tears began trickling down her cheeks. They'd killed Fred, the bastards. They'd killed him before he'd even had a chance to live.

"Remus, Tonks, I'm so glad you're both alive!" Poppy scurried up to them, took one look at Remus's head, and made him sit down immediately. "I'm going to patch this up the best that I can, but you're going to have to stay motionless for at least twenty minutes. I don't want this to open up again once I've sealed it, and I know you'll want to be strong to fight again when our hour's up."

"Thank you, Poppy." Remus murmured as she used her wand to close his wound and practically shoved a blood-replenishing potion down his throat.

"I think you should lie down, sweetheart." Tonks gently lowered him onto one of the open cots on the floor and he sighed gratefully. The pounding in his head was starting to go down and he wasn't feeling as weak or dizzy as he had been a moment beforehand. Poppy had left them as soon as she knew that Remus would be okay and was trying to heal the hundreds of people in the hall as quickly and effectively as possible. "That poor woman, we should have recruited more people from St. Mungo's to be in the Order so that she would have more help. I can't imagine caring for this many people by myself!"

"Mmph, that's nice." Remus mumbled. "You do that."

"Remus John Lupin, you stay awake or I'll sic my granddad on you!" Tonks threatened, suddenly extremely worried because of how exhausted he was. "You have a head injury and you need to stay awake! Should I start singing?"

"You don't need to do that. I'll make more of an effort to-" He yawned. "Keep myself conscious."

"Well that's reassuring." Tonks grumbled.

Suddenly, the Hall went quiet and Tonks turned her head to see what could have silenced this many people. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had entered the Great Hall and finally laid eyes on Fred's dead body. Ron was in hysterics, on his knees beside his dead brother as if being close to him would bring him back, Hermione was trying to suppress her sobs, and Harry was running a hand through his hair exasperatedly while trying not to look at the bodies surrounding him. As quickly as he had entered the hall, and without his friends noticing, Harry was gone.

"Where the hell does he think he's going?" Tonks asked aloud, turning her attention back to her injured husband. "Remus? You'd better not be asleep!"

"Tonks!" Hermione was at her side in an instant and threw her arms around the older witch. "It's great to see you, both of you. I'm so glad you're both alive! How's Teddy?"

"Remus should answer that, he needs to stay awake anyway," Tonks suggested, nudging her husband's elbow with her knee. Remus sighed and answered Hermione with as much politeness as he could muster.

"He's great. He just figured out how to change his eyes and ears yesterday and for a few hours, we could barely recognize him. It's astounding what a Metamorphmagus is capable of." He managed a weak smile as his wife beamed down at him. "Anyway, how have you been? And where did Harry just run off to?"

"Harry? No, he's right behind-" Hermione spun around in an effort to locate her friend and blanched. "He's gone to turn himself over to Voldemort, and I knew he would do it too, that complete _idiot_! Ron!"

She ran to the other boy's side and began speaking to him in a furious whisper. Ron immediately sprinted out of the Great Hall and Tonks craned her neck to see where they were headed off to.

"Harry's not dumb enough to do that, is he?" She wondered aloud. Remus let out a dark chuckle.

"He's a very..._valiant_ boy who would do anything to save his friends and keep people from dying for him. So yes, he is dumb enough to sacrifice himself for all of us. Unfortunately, I have the strangest feeling that he's done it already and we missed our chance at stopping him."

Hermione suddenly appeared in the Great Hall again, this time clutching a worn and yellowed piece of parchment. Remus's eyes narrowed as he recognized the unmistakable outline of the Marauders' Map.

"Where is he?" Remus demanded, attempting to sit up and failing miserably.

"He was in the headmaster's office for a while," Hermione began. Tonks could see the younger witch attempting to suppress tears and placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "But now he's gone to the Forbidden Forest. He's going to get himself killed!"

"Who's going to get himself killed?" Mr. Weasley demanded. He had left his wife's side to see what all the commotion was about and overheard what Hermione had said. "Not Ron, surely-"

"No," Hermione wailed. "Harry!"

The Great Hall fell silent and Hermione clapped her hands over her mouth. Remus fell back onto the cot, unable to keep sitting up because of the overwhelming pain in his head, and Tonks dropped to her knees beside him, worry dominating her features over all other emotion. After what seemed like minutes, all Hell broke loose.

"Wait, what's wrong with Harry?"

"That idiot! He didn't turn himself over to You-Know-Who, did he?"

"It's Voldemort, and what do you mean 'turn himself over?' Harry would never do that!"

"Yeah, he knows we're all here for him 'till the very end!"

The noise in the Great Hall rose to just over a dull roar. People were crying, screaming, and yelling about nothing to others across the Hall. Others were reading their groups to fight and loudly encouraged everyone around them. If the Death Eaters decided to break their word and attack early, surely no one would be able to hear them over this commotion.

"'Mione!" Ron yelled from the rubble that used to be the Entrance Hall. It took him a few tries, but he finally got her attention. "'Mione, you have to see this! It's Harry-"

People, having heard the name they were waiting for, began shoving their way past him to find The Boy Who Lived. Ron was eventually carried away by the crowd and Hermione ran off to find him.

"I don't suppose you would object to giving me a hand." Remus inquired through gritted teeth. Tonks almost refused him, but upon seeing the pure determination in his eyes she decided to go against her better judgement. After a few awkward moments of attempting to pull him to a standing position, she eventually used a charm to levitate him to his feet and let him throw an arm around her shoulders for support. "Now let's see what this is all about, shall we?"

They hobbled toward the mass of people and, slowly but surely, made it close to the front just as the procession of Death Eaters arrived in the courtyard.

"NO!" Screams echoed from around them and Remus hung his head in defeat. Tonks let out a gasp of surprise.

"Here is your so-called saviour," Voldemort began from his place at the head of the group of Death Eaters. Harry was trapped in a cage made of fire next to him, wandless and therefore powerless. "I caught him just as he was attempting to flee the grounds! This coward didn't even want to stay and fight with you, who all are risking your lives even as we speak! Standing here in defiance of the Dark Lord will do you no good in the future! Come to our side now, and live. I will find a place for you to thrive in my new order, no matter where you come from."

"That cage is made of fiendfyre." Remus remarked coldly, his eyebrows raised. Tonks gave him a weird look and he elaborated in a hurried whisper. "It's a usually uncontrollable, and quite powerful, fire that can be used to destroy Horcruxes-which are objects where a wizard can hide pieces of his soul so that he cannot truly die. I'm surprised that Voldemort has this much power over it, since it's so unpredictable-"

"SILENCE!" The whispers around them died down when Voldemort's high-pitched yell pierced the air. "Do we have any takers?"

Draco Malfoy walked slowly across to the Death Eaters, where his parents were standing, and received a pat on the back from Voldemort before walking into his mother's arms. Goyle followed him quickly, and so did a few other Slytherins who had snuck back into the castle, but everyone else stood their ground.

"MALFOY, YOU TWO-FACED BASTARD!" Ron shouted after the blonde-haired boy. "HARRY SAVED YOUR LIFE AND THIS IS WHAT YOU-"

"I said, _Silence_! CRUCIO!" Voldemort cackled. The jet of white light hit Ron square in the chest and he fell to the ground, writing in pain. Hermione was screaming and Harry began yelling, but Voldemort cast a silencing charm that shut the both of them up. Eventually, Voldemort directed his wand away from the Weasley boy and Hermione fell to the ground at his side, sobbing. Harry had a murderous look on his face but he dared not speak, for fear that Voldemort would harm his friends even further.

"Why didn't you kill him?" Remus yelled suddenly. Tonks gave him a look that said 'what the hell do you think you're doing, you idiot' but he completely ignored her. Voldemort tilted his head slightly as he pondered the question before snapping his fingers and letting out a shrill laugh.

"Good question. You see, I have been focusing on killing Harry Potter for... seven years now, but I just now realized that I could use him for so much more! Why kill him with a painless curse when I could torture him, maim him, slice him up into tiny pieces, or even-Oh, I don't know, use his body for my own full regeneration?"

The silencing charm could barely contain the outrage of the people opposing him and he laughed once more.

"Then I guess you want a fight, well that's what you'll get. Avada Kedavra!" The jet of green light flew into the middle of the crowd and hit Colin Creevy in the stomach. He keeled over on the ground and moved no more. The crowd began screaming and yelling and, finally, started throwing curses back into the group of Death Eaters.

Now, jets of green light were flying in all directions and Tonks and Remus had to duck almost down to the ground to avoid them.

"Remus, we have to get out of here! You can't fight like this-" Tonks tried to plead with them as they finally entered the Great Hall once more, but he wouldn't have it.

"I won't abandon Harry. Once he's free, I'll go wherever you want me to."

"You won't get that far."

The pair turned around to see Bellatrix Lestrange behind them once more. Her wand was raised and a manic glint was present in her eyes. Both Tonks and Remus were sad to see that the hideous purple swelling in her cheek had gone down, but ignored it and raised their wands in preparation to duel her.

"Two on one just doesn't seem fair!" Bellatrix screeched as she hurled curses at them left and right. "Well, not for you, anyway! You're about to be slaughtered Tonksie-poo, just because your Auntie Bella has had it up to _here _with your shit!"

Tonks literally shoved Remus out of the way and raised her wand to duel her aunt.

"Well _Auntie, _I've put up with enough of yours over the years. I think we're just about even!"

Tonks was duelling with skill that Remus had never seen her use before, not even on missions they were partnered together for with the Order. Well he had taken control and done most of the fighting then, but still... wow. Now he knew why the Auror department was so sad to see her go.

"Is this all you've got?" Tonks asked, a satisfied smile crossing her features when Bellatrix failed to block her curse yet again. Finally, Tonks got the upper hand. "Expelliarmus!"

Bellatrix's wand flew from her hand to the other side of the Great Hall and Tonks raised her wand to deal the final blow. What she didn't expect was for the other witch to come pelting toward her, a long silver object glinting in her outstretched hand.

"Nymphadora, RUN!" Remus's voice came out in slow motion from Tonks's point of view and she barely saw the blade of the knife in her aunt's hand before it buried itself in the left side of her chest. Bellatrix's face contorted into a relieved smile as Tonks crumpled to the floor, and she then took Tonks's wand from her limp fingers before raising it to kill her.

Suddenly, Remus found a new source of strength. He was on his feet, head injury forgotten for the moment, and attempting to duel the older woman to the death.

"Remus!" Tonks attempted to call out to him, but her words came out as a gurgle and she had to spit blood out of her mouth. The knife had punctured one of her lungs and blood had begun to pool on the floor around her.

"Now here's the hard part, wolf-man," Bellatrix screeched, flinging curses around the Hall that caused destruction to the castle more than injury to the man she was fighting. "You can duel me, take on my master, and free your silly little friend while your wife bleeds out from that wound, or leave the boy here to die. You choose!"

"Get Harry!" Tonks attempted to speak again, but the words came out slurred and unrecognisable.

"I can do both." Remus replied coldly, blocking the curses that came his way with ease and sending even worse ones back her way. "And I can assure you, I will not be standing here watching the mother of my child die. I love her too much to let that happen."

"Ditto." That word came out clear and Remus smiled when he heard it. Unfortunately, he was caught off guard and Bellatrix managed to disarm him. With his wand in her hand, she let out a loud, shrill laugh and raised her wand to deal the killing blow to his injured wife. Remus was frozen in shock and he could only watch as she uttered the words that would end Tonks's life forever.

"Avada-"

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" A jet of green light flew out from the doorway to the Great Hall and hit Bellatrix in the back. When she fell to the floor, dead, none other than Andromeda Tonks was standing there, her wand raised and Teddy strapped into a baby carrier on her back. "'Dora!"

"Mum," Andromeda had run to her side and was assessing the damage of the knife wound. "Teddy."

"I would ask you why the fuck you decided to bring our almost three week old son to a battle where he could be killed, but I'm too grateful to question your actions. Is Tonks going to be all right?" Remus had reclaimed his and his wife's wands from Bellatrix's hand and was standing guard over his family, ready to take on whatever decided to enter the Great Hall.

"It doesn't look good." Andromeda muttered darkly. "Hopefully, Poppy left something here that will-"

"Let me help you heal her myself, dear." Poppy scurried over from where she was hidden behind the overturned staff table and began attempting to save Tonks's life. "Fortunately, this blade isn't the infamous cursed one that Bellatrix usually uses on her enemies, that one is in Miss Granger's possession I believe, but a normal one. It should be easy enough to heal, I have a lot of experience with internal injuries."

She removed the knife with only slight difficulty and began patching the younger woman's lung back together with her wand. The golden tendrils sealed the wound, both in her lung and on her back where the knife had gone completely through her, and were closing the hole the knife had made in her chest when the crowd of people moved from the courtyard into the Great Hall. The slightly-organized battle had turned into complete pandemonium.

"Tonks!" Charlie Weasley- who had been duelling a still-masked Death Eater with his sister and mother, stunned the Death eater with a flick of his wand and ran over to her side. "Is she all right? What the hell happened?"

"Bellatrix Lestrange is what happened," Remus growled, suddenly feeling the effects of his head injury and wanting to sit down more than anything. "And shouldn't you be fighting?"

"We're being overpowered and no one can figure out how to get Harry free so..." Charlie frowned. "We're planning on retreating."

"No!" Both Tonks and Remus cried out at the same time.

"We can't leave Harry," Remus said. "That's definitely not an option."

"Ginny got close enough to talk to him for a minute and that's what he told us to do. George and Bill are getting ready to grab Ron and Hermione to apparate out of here and everyone who's still alive is leaving when we give the signal. There's nothing we can do, Remus. I'm sorry." Charlie patted him on the back and stood up. "I should probably send up the sparks now."

"Charlie, we have to keep fighting!" Tonks called as he began to run toward the centre of the room. "This is the Final Battle! The last confrontation with this bald idiot! We can't give up."

Charlie took one look at her, his face expressing an emotion that neither Tonks nor Remus could identify, and sent up a shower of blue sparks. From all around the Hall, people began disapparating and Remus pulled his wife to her feet.

"I want you to go with Teddy and your mum." Remus instructed her quickly, ignoring her protests. "I'm not leaving Harry, he's my best friend's son and I care about him as much as I care about our son. Please, get yourselves to safety and-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he felt a pair of arms grab both him and his wife and pull them close. Then they spun slightly and the world went black. After a minute of feeling like they were being squeezed, compressed, then stretched, they appeared in the front lawn of the Weasleys' Aunt Muriel's house.

"NO!" Remus yelled, fighting in the person's arms in an attempt to apparate back to Hogwarts. "I have to go back, I have to help Harry!"

He turned his head slightly to see Ron and Hermione copying his actions, tears streaming down both their faces and determination fuelling them through their obvious exhaustion. Suddenly, he felt someone's hand on his shoulder and then a pair of arms wrapped around his waist.

"I'm sorry." Tonks whispered, her cheek pressed against his shoulder. He could feel her tears staining his jumper but didn't care. In that moment he knew that it was pointless to keep struggling and snaked his arms around his wife's waist, pulling her closer. "I'm so sorry."

"It's all right." Remus mumbled as he placed a kiss to the top of her head. "We'll get him back, I know we will. And then we'll kick You-Know-Who's arse from here to Hell."

Just after he finished speaking, Teddy began to cry in his grandmother's arms and both Remus and Tonks sighed, then hurried over to calm him down.

**Hey... Yeah, it's finally up. I know, it's been a while.**

**But on my weekend off Drum Corps we travelled to West Chester, then Allentown to see DCI with a good friend of mine. IT WAS FREAKING AWESOME! The Cavaliers' show is definitely my favourite and I hope the Cadets kick the Blue Devils' boring show to the curb. .05 points behind them... that's bullshit.**

**Anyway, I'd appreciate a review. They all make my day! :D **


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